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CHAPTER XII

THE SPREAD OF TOLSTOY’S INFLUENCE

The new religio-philosophic works of Tolstoy were prohibited in Russia, but they continued to spread. In his native land they were circulated either by hand-written copies or in lithographed or hectographed form, but they were printed in Russian beyond the frontier—in Geneva, London, and Berlin—where also translations appeared. The French translation of Tolstoy’s most important work, “What is My Faith?” was carried out by his friend Prince Leonide Urusoff, who sincerely sympathised with the views expressed in that work. A somewhat shortened English translation was published by V. G. Tchertkoff, together with “Confession” and a short exposition of the Gospels. Shortly after, the same works appeared in Germany. These translations acquainted the western world with Tolstoy’s new views, and they undoubtedly popularised him much more than his novels, which, though appreciated, often were not fully understood by western readers, owing in great part to difficulties of translation.

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