Tolstoy is delighted with the positive reply he gets back from the editor, NA Nekrasov

Tolstoy is delighted with the positive reply he gets back from the editor, NA Nekrasov after he sends the manuscript of Childhood to him. His own letter has a dramatic tone: “Sir, the favour I am going to ask of you will demand so little of your time that I am sure you will not refuse me,” writes Tolstoy to the editor of The Contemporary. “Glance through this manuscript and, if it is not worth printing, send it back to me. Otherwise, tell me what you think of it, send me whatever amount you think it is worth and print it in your review ... Actually, this is the first part of a novel that will cover four periods. The publication of the following parts will depend on the success of the first. I am eager to know your verdict. Either it will incite me to continue in my favourite occupation or it will oblige me to burn everything I have begun.” About two months later Nekrasov replies: “Without knowing the sequel, I cannot make any final judgement, but it seems to me that the author has talent. In any case his ideas, and the simplicity and reality of his subject, form the unquestionable qualities of this work. If, as is to be expected, the sequel contains more animation and action, it will be a fine novel. Do send me the following sections. Your novel and your talent interest me. I advise you not to hide behind initials but immediately to begin publishing under your real name, unless you are to be only a bird of passage on the literary scene. I await your reply.” Not surprisingly, Tolstoy is delighted with the feedback. The manuscript carries the initials LNT and is sent via his brother, Count Nicholas Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Second Lieutenant of Artillery (p93, Tolstoy, Troyat).