This section of the Fundamental Digital Library is devoted to Russian literature of the 19^th century. Individual Digital Scholarly Editions (DSE ) form the foundation of the section. Each DSE accumulates information on a single author, the bulk of whose literary career falls between 1800 and 1900. The DSE include the most authoritative editions of an author's collected works, scholarly editions of individual works, memoirs, criticism written during the author's lifetime, biographical and literary-critical studies, a detailed scholarly chronology of the author's life and works, and bibliographies of the author's works and literature about the author. A reference apparatus which integrates all the constituent DSE appears in a separate sub-section.

The section is made up of individual Digital Scholarly Edtions (DSE ), each of which is structured according to the unique characteristics of each author's publication history and the research traditions devoted to that author. The DSE are based on the format employed throughout FEB-web and are intended to provide the best possible presentation of a given author's works, as well as the scholarly works and materials necessary for analyzing his or her oeuvre. A similar format is employed for the creation of the DSE in the two other sections of FEB-web devoted to modern Russian literature.

Each DSE includes:

• encyclopedia articles on the author;
• the author's works (collected works; scholarly editions of individual works; archival documents);
• secondary literature about the author (memoirs; criticism written during the author's lifetime; biographical and literary-critical studies);
• a detailed scholarly chronology of the author's life and works;
• bibliographies of the author's works and literature about him or her;
• indexes.

Other features are added to the DSE as dictated by the specifics of each author. For example, the DSE of Pushkin and Tolstoy include separate sub-sections for serial publications devoted to the study of these authors.

A reference apparatus which integrates the information of all the constituent DSE appears in a separate sub-section. This reference sub-section includes a bibliography of 19^th-century Russian literature, summary indexes of titles, names, and illustrations, as well as a combined chronology of the lives and works of all the authors included in this section. All these apparati are organically linked to all the DSE and evolve in tandem with them. By integrating all the DSE in this single reference apparatus, we aim to compile a single, comprehensive bibliography and chronology of 19^th-century Russian cultural life within FEB-web.

2. How This Section is Structured
In constructing the DSE we focus on comprehensiveness and intend to present an exhaustive source of scholarly information about a given author. The DSE are designed to provide FEB-web users with a necessary and sufficient minimum of materials such that they can conduct research without resorting to other sources of information. Naturally, this is a long-term goal, but we feel that it is attainable due to one important advantage of digital editions over print publications: DSE are continually and dynamically evolving systems that grow along with the Library as a whole. FEB-web consists of DSE in various stages of development: some are nearly complete, while others have just been started.

Like other thematic sections of FEB-web, the section on 19^th-century Russian literature is not a chaotic mass of information. Because the entire section is cross-linked using hypertextual reference and navigation instruments, it forms a stratified and compartmentalized, but unified bank of information. Within this section, every DSE complements every other DSE , thus providing the user a holistic picture of 19^th-century Russian literature.

Hypertext links, full-text searches, and the capability to simultaneously view and compare multiple texts and other materials create a unique platform for conducting creative work on the topic to which the section is devoted.

This kind of integrated approach to systematizing information gives rise to a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts: aside from the materials in the individual DSE , new information arises as a result of extensive cross-referencing. We view this as a first step to finding a solution to the problems of knowledge accumulation in the humanities.

3. Section Content
The section focuses on two historical-cultural phenomena: “Golden Age” Russian poetry and classical Russian prose.

At this initial stage of FEB-web's development, DSE of Pushkin, Griboedov, Zhukovskii, Batiushkov, Lermontov, and Tiutchev form the core collection of “Golden Age” Russian poetry. The poetic culture of the 19 th century found its fullest expression in the works of these poets.

The FEB-web DSE of A.S. Pushkin is the first part of a three-part DSE devoted to Russia's greatest writer. It includes scholarly editions of Pushkin's collected works as well as separate editions of individual works produced by the Russian and Soviet Academies, all the relevant bibliographies ever published in Russian (and some in other languages), serial publications devoted to Pushkin studies, as well as a number of the most important studies of Pushkin's life and works. The second and third parts will make available other authoritative editions of Pushkin's works, as well as the whole range of scholarly literature on Pushkin in its entirety. We will also continue focus, in particular, on developing a wide array of indexes to aid in navigating all the information presented in this DSE . The second and third parts will be gradually posted to FEB-web as they come available.

The FEB-web DSE of A.S. Griboedov is nearly complete, though such projects are, of course, open-ended by nature. In any case, we continue to expand and consolidate the materials in this DSE . In the immediate future, we plan to make available Griboedov's musical works and to expand the bibliography.

The FEB-web DSE of Iu. M. Lermontov is also near completion. It includes the fundamental editions of Lermontov's collected works and special scholarly editions of individual works, the most complete bibliography in existence, literature about the life and works of Lermontov, and The Lermontov Encyclopedia [ Lermontovskaia entsiklopediia ]. We also plan to make available Lermontov's artwork in this DSE .

The primary sections of the DSE of K.N. Batiushkov and E.A. Boratynskii are already available. They include many of the most authoritative editions of these poets' works, as well as literature on their lives and works.

The FEB-web DSE of V.A. Zhukovskii is under construction.

Of the Russian prose authors of the 19 th century, we have chosen Gogol, who marks the beginning of modern Russian prose, as well as Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, whose works we consider the greatest achievements of 19^th-century Russian prose. These authors, along with Pushkin, prefigured the central tendencies of Russian literature to come.

The FEB-web DSE of N.V. Gogol is under construction.

FEB-web is cooperating with colleagues from Petrozavodsk State University on the construction of The FEB-web DSE of F.M. Dostoevsky .

The FEB-web DSE of L.N. Tolstoy is being developed in tandem with the new edition of Tolstoy's collected works presently being prepared and published under the aegis of The Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Science: as new volumes of this edition come available, they will be posted on FEB-web. Additionally, we plan to make available the 90-volume edition of Tolstoy's collected works, special scholarly editions of individual works, literature on Tolstoy's life and works, and a Tolstoy bilbiography.

4. Additional information
For a number of (primarily technical) reasons, the materials making up sections of FEB-web are posted incrementally over a period of several months. As new material becomes available, announcements are posted to the “News” section. However, in order to keep the “News” section to a manageable size, new links, new images, and other such changes are not announced.

As we construct this section, it is sometimes necessary to deviate slightly from standard structure in the DSE .

Since the reference apparatus will integrate the indexes of all the DSE , it will be finished only after the Lermontov DSE and the second part of the Pushkin DSE are fully operational.

As the DSE listed above near completion, we will begin work on new DSE devoted to other figures of 19^th-century Russian literature.

The editors of FEB-web welcome any commonts and suggestions for improving this section and look forward to hearing your thoughts on content, organization, and format.