The Authorship Problem of the Illustrations in the Edition of the Russian Translation (1929–1932) of Don Quixote in the Context of Academia Publishing Practice

Abstract

This article addresses the question of authorship illustrations in the 1929 (Volume I) and 1932 (Volume II) editions of Miguel de Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote de la Mancha, published by the Academia publishing house. The objective of this article is twofold: firstly, to determine the identity of the artist responsible for the drawings; and secondly, to elucidate the rationale behind the absence of the artist’s name on the title page of the book and in its bibliographic description. The significance of this research lies in the necessity to examine the historical development of illustrations in Miguel de Cervantes’ renowned novel Don Quixote and, more comprehensively, the practice of illustrating classical literary works by the Academia publishing house. The research undertaken allows us the conclusion that the illustrations are the work of the French engraver and artist T. Johannot, whose drawings first appeared in the Paris edition of 1836. The article proceeds to examine the subsequent history of the publication of Johannot’s authorized illustrations. The author of the article traces the history of the publication of the authorized illustrations determines and discovers that the text in question is absent from the 1866 Russian edition of Don Quixote. It is assumed that the Academia publishing house obtained Johannot ‘s illustrations from the 19th-century St Petersburg edition, in which the illustrator’s name is absent on the title. The question is raised as to why the name of the artist Iriarte appears as the illustrator of Don Quixote in the 1980 Academia catalogue and the 2004 book on the history of the publishing house. The need to correct the error made is justified.