Несостоявшееся редакторство сборников издательства "Знание" Л. Андреевым. Один эпизод из переписки М. Горького и Л. Андреева

The fate of the intended editorship of the almanacs of the publishing house "Znanie" by L. Andreev is the main focus in this paper. The correspondence between the two Russian writers shows, that the editorship did not come true because of the irreconcilable difference in the concepts of Gorki and Andreev not only in the basic orientation of the almanacs (the ideological line, mass reader) but also in the sphere of collaborating writers who would come up to the criteria of "liberation of the human being" and of "democratic line" which had to become the main ideological targets of the almanacs. The fact that Andreev said no to the editorship and his reasons for such a step are considered to be evidence of his increasing self-confidence on one hand and of the rise of the incompatibility of the aesthetic opinions of both famous writers on the other hand.