[Next Project] On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev (trans. Constance Garnett)

[Devin O'Bannon]

Hello,

For my next project, I'd like to do On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev. The translation will be the Constance Garnett translation, as per the norm.

Transcription: https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/6902

Page scans: https://archive.org/details/novelsofivanoneve00turguoft/mode/2up

Thanks,

Devin

[Devin O'Bannon]

Sorry, forgot to post the repo link: https://github.com/Survey0r/ivan-turgenev_on-the-eve_constance-garnett

Devin

[Alex Cabal]

OK, David will manage with Lukas reviewing.

On 1/5/26 10:58 AM, Devin O'Bannon wrote:
> Sorry, forgot to post the repo link: https://github.com/Survey0r/ivan-

> turgenev_on-the-eve_constance-garnett <https://github.com/Survey0r/ivan-
> turgenev_on-the-eve_constance-garnett>

>
> Devin
> On Saturday, January 3, 2026 at 2:46:23 PM UTC-7 Devin O'Bannon wrote:
>
> Hello,
>

> For my next project, I'd like to do /On the Eve/ by Ivan Turgenev.

> The translation will be the Constance Garnett translation, as per
> the norm.
>

> Transcription: https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/6902 <https://
> gutenberg.org/ebooks/6902>
> Page scans: https://archive.org/details/novelsofivanoneve00turguoft/
> mode/2up <https://archive.org/details/novelsofivanoneve00turguoft/
> mode/2up>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Devin
>
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[devino...@gmail.com]

Hello all,

I propose this for the book cover: https://www.kansallisgalleria.fi/en/object/421269

I've seen various pictures of Russian dachas (what Garnett translates as "villas") look similar to the buildings in the picture, and a lot of the book takes place in and around dachas.

Thanks,

Devin

[David]

Alas, Devin - that one's already in use (so of course already in the artworks DB). I'm afraid the cover search goes on....

The "farmhouse" tag on that painting might suggest other possibilities?

On Thursday, 15 January 2026 at 04:54:12 UTC Devin wrote:

Hello all,

I propose this for the book cover: https://www.kansallisgalleria.fi/en/object/421269

I've seen various pictures of Russian dachas (what Garnett translates as "villas") look similar to the buildings in the picture, and a lot of the book takes place in and around dachas.

. . .

[devino...@gmail.com]

Oi! I had looked through all the artworks individually and missed that that one was in use. (I'll need to use the search engine too from now on.)

That's fine, I'll find another.

Devin

[devino...@gmail.com]

So I was looking through the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and found this painting that I liked, but when I looked at the rights for the painting, it led me to this CC licence, which is not CC0. It looks like all of the public domain items from that museum are under the CC-PDM licence, not the CC0 licence, which we would mean we can't use it. Unless I'm missing something?

Thanks,

Devin

[David]

I'm seeing what you're seeing, and my understanding is that it *must* be CC0 - I know MIA images have been in the past; perhaps they've change? (Seems like it...) Would be good to get Alex's sense for that source now.

The picture itself is pretty ... dull ... isn't it? I see some of the paperback re-issue covers (Penguin, etc.) take other approaches. Worth checking out?

[devino...@gmail.com]

I was going to pick another one anyway, since I didn't want to deal with licence confusion. Mainly asking for future reference.

Devin

[devino...@gmail.com]

Here, I found one that's far better. (I had initially picked it and then rejected it, but now that I'm looking over the book again, I think this cover actually fits.)

In the book, the central character (Elena Stakhova) is pursued by two men (Pavel and Andrei), but then she meets a Bulgarian man named Insarov who wants to free his homeland from the Tartars. Then she and Insarov fall in love, and when the Crimean War breaks out, he wants to return home to Bulgaria, and she has to decide whether to go with him. The cover gets the "feel" of the story, IMO.

Image source: https://www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr/fr/petit-palais/oeuvres/les-amants-dans-la-campagne-sentiments-du-jeune-age#infos-principales

Thanks,

Devin

[David]

That works! I've added it to the artworks DB, and assigned it. I think there's space to crop so that the pair come more centrally into the frame—unless you want the man centered deliberately. Your call!

Paris Musées provide more than one option: I uploaded the one that matches most closely what you have in your mock-up; I might have been inclined to go with the other one, but again, it's your call! This one might be a candidate for a small tweak of levels?

[devino...@gmail.com]

I agree with re-centering--Elena is the central character in the story.

And actually, the picture that includes the frame seems ever so slightly brighter, and vivid in colours, so here's my mockup with that picture:

I got it from this one (which I resized so that it wouldn't load too slowly):

If that seems good, I'll move forward with it.

Thanks,

Devin

[David]

That looks great - go for it!

You should include that as your `cover.source.jpg`, of course. I don't think we need to change the copy in the artworks DB, though? That's more for a record, I think (Alex?)...

On Friday, 16 January 2026 at 14:38:10 UTC Devinwrote:

[devino...@gmail.com]

Quick question about a possible editorial commit I'd like to make.

At one point, two of the main characters enter the Academia di Belle Arti, and they look at the Assumption of the Virgin by Titian. Turgenev describes one character's reaction:

"Insarov in his turn fell into raptures over the back and legs of the sturdy man in the green cloak, who stands in the foreground of Titian’s Ascension and holds his arms outstretched after the Madonna..."

So I'll italicize the truncated name of the artwork (which Garnett translates as "Ascension"), of course, but I looked at another translation of this book (by Michael Pursglove) and he translates it as its correct name, "Assumption." (However, he still leaves in Turgenev's error regarding the "green" cloak, which is actually red.)

Two things I'd like to change:

1. Change the name from Ascension (which usually puts into mind the Ascension of Jesus, not the Assumption of Mary) to Assumption.
2. While I find it fascinating that Turgenev had an error regarding the colour of the man's cloak, I'd like to also correct this, so that Insarov sees the "sturdy man in the red cloak."

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Devin

[David]

I think Pursglove got it right: I think #1 is right (and for our purposes, still Editorial); but #2 isn't a translation tweak,[1]  but Turgenev's "choice", even if "mistake". I'd leave that as-is. I see David McDuff's 1999 translation for the Oxford World Classics does the same as Pursglove.

[1] I see Isabel Hapgood's translation 1903 also uses "Ascension", so perhaps "our" conventional name for this work wasn't settled then?

[devino...@gmail.com]

OK, will do.

As for the title--I think it's called the Assunta, which means "assumption" in Italian, so perhaps the word in Russian has a wider semantic range? I'm not sure, since I can't read Russian.

Devin

[devino...@gmail.com]

This is now ready for review.

Repo: https://github.com/Survey0r/ivan-turgenev_on-the-eve_constance-garnett

Thanks,

Devin

[Lukas Bystricky]

Ok, I'll get to this in the next couple of days.

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[Lukas Bystricky]

Very nice work Devin. I've filed a few things for you to look at. 

[Lukas Bystricky]

Ok Alex this is ready for you.

One issue came up during review. Modernize-spelling changes far-fetched to farfetched, but the former appears in MW (although as Devin pointed out farfetchedness is in MW without the dash). Should this be removed from the word list? If so there's a couple instances in the corpus that would have to be changed. 

[Vince]

The word was removed from the list last September (prior to 2.10) and farfetchedness added, and I just tested a file with both far-fetched and far-fetchedness in it, and modernize spelling left the former alone and fixed the latter. If it changed it, the tools are out-of-date.

[Lukas Bystricky]

Oh whoops, I thought I was using the development toolset but apparently I wasn't. Nothing to see here. 

[Alex Cabal]

OK, looks good Devin, thanks! I've released it.

On 1/17/26 10:32 AM, devino...@gmail.com wrote:
> This is now ready for review.
>

> Repo: https://github.com/Survey0r/ivan-turgenev_on-the-eve_constance-
> garnett <https://github.com/Survey0r/ivan-turgenev_on-the-eve_constance-
> garnett>

>
> Thanks,
>
> Devin
>
> On Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 7:40:53 AM UTC-7 devino...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> OK, will do.
>

> As for the title--I think it's called the /Assunta/, which means

> "assumption" in Italian, so perhaps the word in Russian has a wider
> semantic range? I'm not sure, since I can't read Russian.
>
> Devin
>
> On Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 3:01:46 AM UTC-7 David wrote:
>
> I think Pursglove got it right: I think #1 is right (and for our
> purposes, still Editorial); but #2 isn't a translation tweak,
> [1]  but Turgenev's "choice", even if "mistake". I'd leave that
> as-is. I see David McDuff's 1999 translation for the Oxford
> World Classics does the same as Pursglove.
>
> [1] I see Isabel Hapgood's translation 1903 also uses
> "Ascension", so perhaps "our" conventional name for this work
> wasn't settled then?
>
> On Saturday, 17 January 2026 at 04:52:10 UTC Devin wrote:
>
> Quick question about a possible editorial commit I'd like to
> make.
>
> At one point, two of the main characters enter the Academia

> di Belle Arti, and they look at the /Assumption of the
> Virgin <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
> Assumption_of_the_Virgin_(Titian)> /by Titian. Turgenev

> describes one character's reaction:
>
> "Insarov in his turn fell into raptures over the back and
> legs of the sturdy man in the green cloak, who stands in the
> foreground of Titian’s Ascension and holds his arms
> outstretched after the Madonna..."
>
> So I'll italicize the truncated name of the artwork (which
> Garnett translates as "Ascension"), of course, but I looked
> at another translation of this book (by Michael Pursglove)
> and he translates it as its correct name,
> "Assumption." (However, he still leaves in Turgenev's error
> regarding the "green" cloak, which is actually red.)
>
> Two things I'd like to change:
>

> 1. Change the name from /Ascension /(which usually puts

> into mind the Ascension of Jesus, not the Assumption of

> Mary) to /Assumption./
> 2. While I find it fascinating that Turgenev had an error

> regarding the colour of the man's cloak, I'd like to
> also correct this, so that Insarov sees the "sturdy man
> in the red cloak."
>
> Let me know what you think.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Devin
>

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