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Nevill Forbes and Old Russian Chronicles

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Abstract

Neville Forbes was one of the few Russianists in England in the 1910s and 1920s, a Professor at Oxford University. He published several manuals for students of Russian studies, which had been popular for decades, translated Russian classical literature, and participated in publishing the Novgorod 1 Chronicle translated into English. The article analyzes the principles of text reproduction in this edition, which is important since there were disputes on the issue at that time. There is also an article by Neville Forbes on the composition of early Russian chronicles. The choice of occupation by Neville Forbes was due to family ties with Russia. Neville Forbes expressed the attitude towards Russia and Russian culture of certain circles of British intellectuals in the early 20th century. He used works of A.A. Shakhmatov. The latter even wrote a small essay placed in the Notes to Introduction in the British edition of the Novgorod 1 Chronicle. In general, this edition reflects the most important achievements made at that time in the textology of Novgorod chronicles. An analysis of an article by Neville Forbes on Russian chronicles suggests that the author did not simply borrow the conclusions of A.A. Shakhmatov and other researchers, but had his own approach to chronicles, which was based on a special idea of the relationship of culture with the country’s geographical features, size, and surroundings.

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Notes

  1. This is testified by Felicity Ashbee, the famous niece of Neville Forbes (daughter of his older sister Janet). See Ashbee, F. Nevill Forbes, 1883–1929: Some family letters from Russia, Oxford Slavonic Papers, 1976, 9, pp. 79–90. The father of Felicity Ashbee and son-in-law of Neville Forbes (the husband of Janet Ashbee, nee Forbes) in 1898 was Charles R. Ashbee (1863–1942), a prominent architect and designer who was close to the late Pre-Raphaelites, particularly William Morris, and the author of various famous projects and books on art. To this marriage were born four daughters, nieces of Neville Forbes, to whom he was very attached since, as a homosexual himself, he had no family and no children. Forbes was able to communicate closely with his nieces for the last six years of his life after 1923. In 1918, Ashbee was appointed British Civil Counselor to Palestine and was also charged with the supervision of construction and protection of historic sites and monuments. He took his family to Jerusalem, where they lived until 1923. Ashbee died at Sevenoaks and is buried in a church he had built himself as an architect. Felicity Ashbee lived 96 years (died 2008). Like many in this family clan, she was left-wing (even was a communist for some time), fought against fascism, and worked in British intelligence during the war (it was she who, according to her memoirs, spotted an unidentified aircraft heading for Scotland, reported it on May 10, 1941, and it turned out to be Rudolf Hess’s plane). After the war she taught in girls’ schools, was a book illustrator, portraitist, and designer, and had a lifelong interest in Russia. The interest came apparently from impressions of childhood including memories of her late uncle Neville Forbes. Felicity Ashbee had an outstanding collection of postcards on Russia, in particular, photographs dating as far back as the mid-19th century, the oldest having been made by the photographer William Carrick, the uncle of Neville Forbes. In addition to excerpts of letters from Neville Forbes to his sister, Felicity Ashbee published a part of her mother Janet Ashbee’s memoirs in 2002. See Robin Stummer, Jane Felicity Ashbee, artist, designer, writer, and teacher: Born Broad Campden, Gloucestershire, 22 February 1913; died London 26 July 2008, Independent, Wednesday, August 9, 2008.

  2. Stone, G. Slavonic Studies at Oxford: A Brief History, Oxford, 2005, pp. 13–14.

  3. Subotić, D. Nevill Forbes, Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 7, No. 21 (Mar., 1929), p. 699. The author of this obituary, Dragutin Subotić, was associated with Neville Forbes through years of scholarly cooperation in Balkan studies, including their joint publication of Serbian Grammar (1918, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 1926). He published the same obituary in Revue des Études Slaves (Vol. VII, No. 21, March 1929, pp. 698–701).

  4. See Carrick, G. Koumiss, or Fermented Mare’s Milk, and its Uses in the Treatment and Cure of Pulmonary Consumption and Other Wasting Diseases, Edinburgh and London, 1881; Carrick, G. O kumyse i ego upotreblenii v legochnoi chakhotke i drugikh iznuritelnykh boleznyakh [On Koumiss and Its Use in Pulmonary Consumption and Other Wasting Diseases], 2nd edition, St. Petersburg, 1903.

  5. Stone, G. Slavonic Studies at Oxford…, p. 14.

  6. See Note 2 in this article.

  7. Ashbee, F. Nevill Forbes…, p. 83.

  8. Ibid., p. 84.

  9. Ibid., p. 89

  10. Pares, B. Nevill Forbes, Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 7, No. 21 (Mar., 1929), p. 701; Ibid. Revue des Études Slaves, Vol. 7, No. 21 (March 1929), pp. 701, 702.

  11. Teterelevleva, T.P. Valerii Wil’yamovich Karrick (1869–1943): peterburgskii emigrant Norvegii [Valery Wil’yamovich Carrick (1869–1943): Petersburg Emigrant of Norway], in St. Petersburg and the Countries of Northern Europe, Proceedings of the Fifth Annual International Scientific Conference, April 23–25, 2003, St. Petersburg: Izd. Russkogo khristianskogo gumanitarnogo instituta, 2004, pp. 44, 55.

  12. Carrik, V. Picture Tales From the Russian, Translated by Nevill Forbes, Oxford: B.H. Blackwell, Broad Street, 1913.

  13. Subotić, D. Nevill Forbes, p. 700.

  14. Teterevleva, T.P. Valerii Wil’yamovich Karrick…, p. 46.

  15. Teterevleva, T.P. Valerii Wil’yamovich Karrick…, p. 46.

  16. Ibid, p. 47.

  17. Stone, G. Slavonic Studies at Oxford…, p. 13.

  18. Forbes, N. The Position of the Slavonic Languages at the Present Day: An Inaugural Lecture Delivered before the University of Oxford, November 29, 1910, Oxford University Press, 1910, pp. 1–32.

  19. See Polish literature: A Lecture by Nevill Forbes, M.A., Ph.D., Oxford University press, s.a.

  20. Forbes, N. The Position of the Slavonic Languages at the Present Day…, p. 4.

  21. Library of Slavic Literature at Oxford. Subsequently, after the death of the scholar, the Slavic part of the rich personal library of Neville Forbes also got there.

  22. Forbes N. The Position of the Slavonic Languages at the Present Day…, p. 4.

  23. Stone, G. Slavonic Studies at Oxford…, p. 14.

  24. See papers by N.A. Grishchenko about N. Forbes as a teacher and author of textbooks: Grishchenko, N.A. Prosvetitel’skaya deyatel’nost Nevilla Forbsa v sfere rusistiki na blago obrazovaniya Velikobritanii [Neville Forbes’s Educational Outreach in the Sphere of Russian Studies for the Benefit of British Education], pp. 99–102. See also Grigor’eva, T.M., Grishchenko, N.A., and Ershova, E.O. Missionery russkogo yazyka i russkoi kultury (XVI–XX vv.) [Missionaries of the Russian Language and Russian Culture in the Anglo-German World (16th–20th Centuries)], Saarbrücken, 2011, pp. 44–50; Grishchenko, N.A., Ershova, E.O., and Starsheva, M.A. “Russkii mir” v vospriyatii inostrantsev (Chast 1. Angloyazychnaya auditoriya) [“Russian World” as Seen by Foreigners (Part 1: English-Speaking Audience)], Saarbrücken, 2021, pp. 10, 167, 168, 222, 223.

  25. Forbes, N. Tolstoi: A lecture, Oxford University Press, s.a.

  26. Ibid., p.4.

  27. Ibid., p. 9.

  28. Ibid., p. 11.

  29. Ibid., p.12.

  30. Pares, B. The objectives of Russian study in Britain, Slavonic Review, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jun., 1922), pp. 59–72.

  31. Galton, D. The Anglo–Russian Literary Society, Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 48, No. 111 (Apr., 1970), pp. 272–282; See same author: On the role of cultural relations in international relations: Anglo–Russian Literary Society (1892–1930), Novaya i noveishaya istoriya, No. 4, 2009; Grigor’eva, T.M., Grishchenko, N.A., and Ershova, E.O. Missionery russkogo yazyka i russkoj kultury (XVI–XX vv.)…, pp. 57–64.

  32. Galton, D. Anglo–Russian Literary Society, p. 281. See also: Vovina-Lebedeva, V.G. (1) Russkie srednevekovye teksty v vospriyatii frantsuzskikh istorikov: Louis Leger—issledovatel slavyanstva i publikator russkikh letopisei [Russian Medieval Texts as Perceived by French Historians: Louis Léger, Researcher of Slavism and Publisher of Russian Chronicles], in St. Petersburg–France: Science, Culture, Politics, St. Petersburg, 2010, pp. 305–317; (2) Shkoly issledovaniya russkikh letopisey [Schools of Russian Chronicle Studies], St. Petersburg, 2012, pp. 153–166.

  33. The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016–1471, Translated from the Russian by Robert Michell and Nevill Forbes, With an introd. by C. Raymond Beazley, and an account of the text by A.A. Shakhmatov, London, 1914.

  34. The Novgorod Chronicle According to the Synodal Parchment Transcript, St. Petersburg, 1888.

  35. An Account of the Text of the Novgorod Chronicle by Professor A.A. Shakhmatov, St. Petersburg University in The Chronicle of Novgorod…, pp. xxxvii–xli. A.A. Shakhmatov summarized in this Notes to Introduction the relationship between the texts of the N1St, N1Ml, and PVL. In addition, this text describes the history of the Compilation of Archbishops of Novgorod, which was the basis for the entire Novgorod chronicle-writing, and the role of Herman Voyata, a priest at the Novgorod Church of St. James, in the creation of the Synodal Transcript. It also sets forth the complex relationship between the Novgorod and later pan-Russian lines of chronicle-writing. English readers were thus supplied with the most up-to-date results of scholarly research on N1 at that time.

  36. Batterfield, H. The Whig Interpretation of History, London, 1931.

  37. Rukavishnikov, A.V. Britanskaya istoriografiya srednevekovoi Rosii per. pol XX v. (Metodologicheskie podkhody) [British Historiography of Medieval Russia in the First Half of the 20th Century (Methodological Approaches)], https://zinref.ru/000_ uchebniki/02800_logika/011_lekcii_raznie_38/1428.htm. Cited November 30, 2022.

  38. Ibid.

  39. Shakhmatov, A.A. Issledovanie o yazyke novgorodskikh gramot XIII–XIV veka [A Study on the Language of Novgorod letters of the 13th–14th centuries], in Studies on the Russian Language, Vol. 1, St. Petersburg, 1886, pp. 131–285; Schakhmatov, A.A. Issledovanie o dvinskikh gramotakh XV veka [A study on Dvina letters of the 15th century], Parts. 1 and 2, in Studies on the Russian Language, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1903, pp. 1–184.

  40. Morfill had few disciples. John Oliver Wardrop, famous for his research in Georgian philology, is also mentioned in addition to N. Forbes and R. Beasley. See Stone, G. Slavonic Studies at Oxford…, p. 14.

  41. General Introduction, in The Chronicle of Novgorod, pp. vii–xxxvi.

  42. Beazley, R. and Forbes, N. Russia: From the Varangians to the Bolsheviks, Oxford: G.A. Birkett, 1918.

  43. General Introduction in The Chronicle of Novgorod, pp. vii–xxxvi. Russia: From the Varangians to the Bolsheviks by Raymond Beazley; Nevill Forbes; G. A. Birkett. Oxford, 1918. The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016–1471 by Robert Michell; Nevill Forbes. Review by: Ellis H. Minns, English Historical Review, Vol. 30, No. 119 (Jul., 1915), pp. 539, 540.

  44. The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016-1471 by Robert Michell; Nevill Forbes; A.A. Shakhmatov. Review by: R. H. Lord, American Historical Review, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Oct., 1915), pp. 140–142.

  45. This work was done already in our time by A.A. Gippius. See Gippius, A.A. K istorii slozheniya teksta Novgorodskoi pervoi letopisi [On the History of the Formation of the Text of the Novgorod First Chronicle], Novgorodskii istoricheskii sbornik, 1997. No. 6, pp. 3–72.

  46. The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016–1471 by Robert Michell; Nevill Forbes; A.A. Shakhmatov. Review by R. H. Lord, p. 141.

  47. The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016–1471. Vol. 25 by Robert Michell; Nevill Forbes. Review by H.A. Nesbitt, Scottish Historical Review, Vol. 12, No. 47 (Apr., 1915), pp. 321–323.

  48. Forbes, N. The composition of the earlier Russian chronicles, Slavonic Review, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jun., 1922), pp. 73–85.

  49. Presumably, this was the four-volume edition of A.A. Pypin: Pypin, A.A. Istoriya russkoy literatury [History of Russian Literature], in 4 vols., St. Petersburg, 1911–1913.

  50. Ibid., p. 73.

  51. Romanov, B.A. Lyudi i nravy drevnei Rusi [People and Morals of Old Rus], Leningrad, 1947. See also Vovina-Lebedeva, V.G. Shkoly issledovaniya russkikh letopisey: XIX–XX vv. [Schools of Research of Russian chronicles: 19th–20th Centuries], St. Petersburg, 2011, pp. 449–497.

  52. Eremin, I.P. “Povest’ vremennykh let”: Problemy ee istoriko-literaturnogo izucheniya [The Tale of Bygone Years: Problems of its Historical and Literary Study], Leningrad, 1947, 2nd ed.: Eremin, I.P. Literatura Drevnei Rusi (Etyudy i kharakteristiki) [Literature of Old Rus (Essays and Characteristics), Moscow; Leningrad, 1966.

  53. Eremin, I.P. Povest’ vremennykh let…, pp. 51–58.

  54. Boguslavsky, S.A. K voprosu o kharaktere i obyeme literaturnoy deyatelnosti prep. Nestora [On the Nature and Scope of the Literary Activity of Rev. Nestor], IORYaS [Proceedings of the Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Imperial Academy of Sciences], Petrograd, 1914, Vol. 19, Book 3.

  55. Forbes, N. The composition of the earlier Russian chronicles…, p. 83.

  56. Eremin, I.P. Povest’ vremennykh let…, pp. 49, 50.

  57. Forbes Nevill. The composition of the Earlier Russian chronicles, р. 84.

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  1. Saint-Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

    V. G. Vovina-Lebedeva

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And they walked and walked all over the forest…

(From The Lame Duckling, a Russian folk tale translated by N. Forbes)

Translated by: D. Sventsitsky

The article is an expanded and revised version of a paper published in Russian: Vovina-Lebedeva, V. G. Neville Forbes—oksfordskii slavist, izdatel’, issledovatel’ letopisaniya, in Sankt-Peterburg–Velikobritaniya: XVIII–XXI vv. [Neville Forbes—Oxford Slavonic scholar, publisher, researcher of chronicles], in St. Petersburg–Great Britain: 18th–21st Centuries, St. Petersburg: Evropeiskii Dom, 2014, pp. 454–469.

Varvara Gelievna Vovina-Lebedeva, Dr, Sci. (Hist.), is Deputy Director for Academic Cooperation of the St. Petersburg Institute of History, RAS, and a Leading Researcher in the Department of Old Russia History at the above institute.

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Vovina-Lebedeva, V.G. Nevill Forbes and Old Russian Chronicles. Her. Russ. Acad. Sci. 92 (Suppl 12), S1215–S1224 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1019331622180125

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