About Another Source of The Queen on Spades

The article analyzes another possible source of A. S. Pushkin’s novella The Queen of Spades, associated with the French historical realities of the life story of the old countess. The authors believe that the poet might have used The Rollicking Chronicles (Chroniques de l’Œil de Bœuf) by G. Touchard-Lafosse, while the first edition of the book was published shortly before Pushkin’s text. Certain significant realities of The Queen of Spades are easily traceable in this source: Montgolfier’s hot air balloon, Mesmer’s magnetism, playing pharaoh at court, the description of Count Saint-Germain and the principal components of his myth. Comparing the respective parts of Pushkin’s text with the Chronicles, we came up with a slightly different outlook on the well-known work of Russian classical literature.