«Marie wrote it herself. I don't know how to write yet»: In Addition to the Question about Children’s Letters Written by Adults from the Archive of the Imperial Family (1820–1830s)

Abstract

Childhood studies is one of the interdisciplinary fields studying children's letters. This article analyzes certain children's letters from the collections of the Imperial family of the State Archive of the Russian Federation. It is believed that Grand Duchesses Maria, Elizabeth, Ekaterina Mikhailovnas and Alexandra Nikolaevna wrote these letters by themselves, however, during a source analysis it was revealed that since the Grand Duchesses could not write, these letters were created by adults. This article explores why adults resorted to such practices. First of all, the importance of letters` educational function which is provided by existence of children inside the writing culture. It was important to teach young grand duchesses to write at young age. Secondly, these letters also recorded certain stages of growing up of the child. In such letters, the attributes of "childish" were deliberately admitted by adults, because it has become important for them to memorize these moments of personal development.