Anna Karenina

35 Ristich-Kudzhitsky: That is, Yovan Ristich (1831-99), a Serbian political activist who opposed Turkish and Austrian influence in Serbia. His name was well known in Russia. The ‘Slavic question’ was the question of freeing the Slavic peoples from the Ottoman yoke, one of the most important political issues of the 1870s. In 1875 a popular revolt broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1876 in Montenegro. Serbia declared war on Turkey that same year. Bulgaria placed its hopes in Russia. In 1877 Russia declared war on Turkey, and there was talk of ‘taking Constantinople’ in revenge for the Russian defeat in the Crimean War (1854-6).

36 the Alexander Nevsky: That is, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, created by Peter the Great in 1722, named after St Alexander Nevsky (1220-63), a prince whose victories over the Swedes and the Teutonic knights made him a national hero.

37 ‘He that is married ...’: Cf. I Corinthians 7:32-3. Karenin inverts the two halves of the sentence. 38 throw the stone: See note 33, Part One.

39 Slav tutor: It was traditional to have an English or French tutor; Karenin follows the new fashion in having his son learn Russian from a Slav tutor.

40 the Vladimir ... Andrew the First-called:Tat is, the Order of St Vladimir, named after Prince Vladimir of Kiev (956?-1015), who laid the foundations of the Kievan state and in 988 converted his people to Christianity, and the Order of St Andrew the apostle, patron saint of Russia, traditionally known as ‘the first-called’ from the account of his calling in John 1:37-40.

41 Enoch ... alive to heaven: See Genesis 5:18-24 and Hebrews 11:5.

42 Patti: Carlotta Patti (1835-89), Italian opera singer, elder sister of the more famous Adelina Patti (1843-1919), toured in Russia from 1872 to 1875.

43 perfumed glove: The long, tight-fitting gloves fashionable at the time could only be put on by first being rolled up like a stocking.

Part Six

1 Gvozdevo ... near side: The topography of Pokrovskoe resembles that of Tolstoy’s estate Yasnaya Polyana down to the smallest details. The marsh where Tolstoy used to hunt was divided in two by railway tracks; that is why Levin says ‘on the near side’.

2 Automedon: Achilles’ charioteer in the Iliad.

3 tax farmers: private persons authorized by the state to collect taxes in exchange for a fixed fee. The practice was obviously open to abuse, and tax farmers could become extremely wealthy, though never quite respectable. The practice was abolished in the 1860s by the reforms of Alexander II.

4 Gretchen: Diminutive of Margarete, a peasant girl in Goethe’s Faust who is seduced and abandoned by Faust.

5 hat of Monomakh: A slightly altered quotation from Pushkin’s historical drama Boris Godunov. The ‘hat of Monomakh’ is the hereditary crown of the Russian tsars, named after Prince Vladimir Monomakh (1053-1126).

6 bring forth children: See Genesis 3:16 (Revised Standard Version).

7 Gautier: An actual bookshop in Moscow, owned by V. I. Gautier, located on Kuznetsky Bridge.

8 ‘... kiss the cross’: It was customary to seal an oath by kissing the cross.

9 ‘... sancta simplicitas’: ‘O holy simplicity’ - words said to have been spoken by the Czech reformer Jan Hus (1369-1415), as he was being burned at the stake, to an old woman who came up to add a stick to the fire.

10 bast: The flexible inner bark of the linden, which had many uses (as roofing material, fibre for binding, material for shoes) in rural Russia.

11 vestals: The Vestal Virgins were priestesses who tended the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta, goddess of the hearth and household, in ancient Rome.

12 the brothers: That is, ‘brother Slavs’ - Serbians, Bulgarians, Montenegrins - whose struggle for independence drew sympathy and aid from Russian society (see note 35, Part Five).

13 Taine: Hippolyte Taine (1828-93), French philosopher, historian and critic. His book Intelligence was published in 1870. In What Is Art? Tolstoy includes him among the futile reasoners about beauty.

Part Seven

1 Montenegrins ... fighters: Over the course of some six centuries Montenegro never ceased its resistance to Turkish rule. In 1876 the Montenegrins formed bands and embarked on a guerrilla war in the mountains, which was followed closely in the European press.

2 Svintich’s fiftieth birthday: An ironic reference to the celebrating of all sorts of anniversaries that became fashionable in the 1870s.