Abstract
The article traces the textual history of A. A. Blok’s poetic sketch «Rejoicing and Spinning.», which was previously erroneously treated as a completed work. The final argument in resolving the issue is the previously unknown letter from A. A. Blok to D. N. Friedberg, discovered in the V. N. Orlov Foundation at RGALI, which is being introduced into the academic circulation for the first time. The circumstances of the two Symbolist poets’ cooperation in V. A. Ternavtsev’s educational and enlightenment project, the publication of textbooks for the primary classes of the «folk schools», are revealed. The analysis of the microtext — the notes and marginalia adjacent to the sketch — is instrumental for tracing the influence of V. Bryusov’s folklore stylizations on Blok’s early experiments with the form of «childish» or «naive» poetry.