The First Distiller Explained

The First Distiller, subtitled How the Imp Earned a Crust (Russian: Первый винокур, или Как чертенок краюшку заслужил), is a play by Leo Tolstoy published in 1886, and translated into English by Aylmer and Louise Maude.^[1]

According to academic Andrew Donskov, The First Distiller was an anti-alcohol morality play, based on Tolstoy's short story Promoting a Devil, that drew upon numerous literary themes already present in Russian literature in the 1860s, such as A. F. Pogossky's 1861 story of the same title.^[2]

It was first translated into French by the famous Polish translator Téodor de Wyzewa in November 1886.^[3]

Text online

Russian

• Первый винокур, или Как чертенок краюшку выкупал, from rvb.ru

English

• The First Distiller: A Comedy in Six Acts, from RevoltLib.com
• The First Distiller, from Marxists.org
• The First Distiller, from TheAnarchistLibrary.org
• The First Distiller, from Project Gutenberg

Further reading

• Nikolay Leskov, заимствован сюжет пьесы графа Л. Н. Толстого «Первый винокур»", In: Лесков Н. С. Собрание сочинений в 11 томах. М.: ГИХЛ, 1957. vol. 11. pp. 132–133.

Notes and References

1. Web site: The First Distiller. Good Press . 2019 .
2. L. N. Tolstoy's Sources for his Play The First-Distiller . Taylor & Francis, Ltd. . Andrew Donskov . Canadian Slavonic Papers / Revue Canadienne des Slavistes . 1973 . 15 . 3 . 375–381. 10.1080/00085006.1973.11091333 . 40866595 .
3. Book: Téodor de Wyzewa: Critic Without a Country . Elga Liverman Duval . 1961 . E. Droz.