second venture in the realm of fiction. This is fol-
lowed by a general examination of his art, exclusive
of prose, during his years of maturity. Against this
background is then presented part two, which is de-
voted exclusively to a critique of A Hero of Our Times.

It would be ungracious on my part not to give
credit to those institutions and persons whose gener-
ous subsidies and advice have assisted me in the past
in my studies of Lermontov. Some of the initial re-
search for this book was carried out at a time when I
was the recipient of a Ford Foundation Fellowship,
and the final writing was made possible by a Summer
Faculty Research Fellowship provided by the Hor-
ace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, Uni-
versity of Michigan. Without wishing to involve them
in any responsibilities for the shortcomings of the
present work, I should like to express my gratitude to
several of my teachers. Professor Oleg Maslenikov of
the University of California first introduced me to
Lermontov's works and originally encouraged me to
do graduate work in Russian literature. I am particu-
larly indebted to Professor Gleb Struve, also of the
University of California, who provided much guid-
ance and inspiration during my studies as a graduate
student. Finally, the encouragement and advice of
Professor Waclaw Lednicki, past Chairman of the
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures of
the University of California, have been invaluable.
His stimulation and example have constantly aided
me, and it is to this teacher and friend that my book
is dedicated.

JOHN JR. MERSEREAU

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