Introduction to Velimir Chlebnikov's Doski Sud'by

The introduction to Velimir Khlebnikov's late cosmological magnum opus Doski Sud'by (Tables of Fate) traces the genesis of the work from its 1905 inception, when Khlebnikov set himself the task of finding the laws of time, to his premature death in 1922. The essay presents an overview of the archival materials and their publishing history; it considers the most pertinent questions of textual arrangement and stylistic characteristics; it introduces the fundamentals of Khlebnikov's cosmological theory as well as his vision of the future; it also includes a discussion of editorial issues pertinent for this version of Khlebnikov's modernist epic.