Scorpion (Скорпион) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

publishing house which played an important role in the development of

Russian Symbolism Russian symbolism was an intellectual and artistic movement predominant at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. It arose separately from European symbolism, emphasizing mysticism and ostranenie. Literature Influences Primary ...

in the early 1900s.

History

Scorpion was founded in

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a ...

by the philanthropist and translator Sergey A. Polyakov, poets

Valery Bryusov Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov ( rus, Вале́рий Я́ковлевич Брю́сов, p=vɐˈlʲerʲɪj ˈjakəvlʲɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbrʲusəf, a=Valyeriy Yakovlyevich Bryusov.ru.vorb.oga; – 9 October 1924) was a Russian poet, prose writer, drama ...

and

Jurgis Baltrušaitis Jurgis Baltrušaitis (May 2, 1873 – January 3, 1944) was a Lithuanian symbolist poet and translator, who wrote his works in Lithuanian and Russian. In addition to his important contributions to Lithuanian literature, he was noted as a politic ...

Konstantin Balmont Konstantin Dmitriyevich Balmont ( rus, Константи́н Дми́триевич Бальмо́нт, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin ˈdmʲitrʲɪjɪvʲɪdʑ bɐlʲˈmont, a=Konstantin Dmitriyevich Bal'mont.ru.vorb.oga; – 23 December 1942) was a Rus ...

was said to have suggested its title. Scorpion's initial agenda was two-fold: to meet the already well-developed demand for the so-called 'decadent' brand of literature and to form its own readership, interested in the "new art" of Russian

modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, ...

. The preface to Scorpion's first ever catalog stated: "The Scorpion publishing house is interested mostly in works of art, but aims also for the fields of history of literature and aesthetic criticism. Willing to stand above the existing literary trends, it eagerly embraces everything that has real poetry to it regardless of which literary school any particular author belongs to. It is only vulgar things that we tend to avoid. The Among Scorpion's other priorities is translating foreign authors who serve the New Art. The time has come to give our reader the opportunity to form their own opinions on new trends in literature." The inclusion of the foreign literature into the ''Scorpion's'' fold was considered obligatory. This way the 'European context' of the Russian symbolism was being highlighted. The first foreign book published by Scorpion in March 1900, was

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...

's ''

When We Dead Awaken ''When We Dead Awaken'' ( no, Når vi døde vågner) is the last play written by Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. Published in December 1899, Ibsen wrote the play between February and November of that year. The first performance was at the Haymark ...

'', translated by Polyakov and Baltrušaitis. Bryusov praised Scorpion as the center of the New Art in Russia, having brought together the Moscow (Bryusov, Balmont,

Andrei Bely Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev ( rus, Бори́с Никола́евич Буга́ев, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ bʊˈɡajɪf, a=Boris Nikolayevich Bugayev.ru.vorb.oga), better known by the pen name Andrei Bely or Biely ( rus, Андре ...

) and Saint Petersburg's authors (

Dmitry Merezhkovsky Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky ( rus, Дми́трий Серге́евич Мережко́вский, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪrʲɪˈʂkofskʲɪj; – December 9, 1941) was a Russian novelist, poet, religious thinker ...

Zinaida Gippius Zinaida Nikolayevna Gippius (Hippius) (; – 9 September 1945) was a Russian poet, playwright, novelist, editor and religious thinker, one of the major figures in Russian symbolism. The story of her marriage to Dmitry Merezhkovsky, which lasted ...

Fyodor Sologub Fyodor Sologub (russian: Фёдор Сологу́б, born Fyodor Kuzmich Teternikov, russian: Фёдор Кузьми́ч Тете́рников, also known as Theodor Sologub; – 5 December 1927) was a Russian Symbolist poet, novelist, transl ...

), the latter associated with ''

Severny Vestnik ''Severny Vestnik'' (russian: Се́верный ве́стник, en, The Northern Messenger) was an influential Russian literary magazine founded in Saint Petersburg in 1885 by Anna Yevreinova, who stayed with it until 1889. History In the e ...

'' magazine. Closely associated with Scorpion were miriskussniki

Léon Bakst Léon Bakst (russian: Леон (Лев) Николаевич Бакст, Leon (Lev) Nikolaevich Bakst) – born as Leyb-Khaim Izrailevich (later Samoylovich) Rosenberg, Лейб-Хаим Израилевич (Самойлович) Розенбе ...

and

Konstantin Somov Konstantin Andreyevich Somov (russian: Константин Андреевич Сомов; November 30, 1869 – May 6, 1939) was a Russian artist associated with the '' Mir iskusstva''. Biography Early life Konstantin Somov was born on ...

, as well as

Victor Borisov-Musatov Victor Elpidiforovich Borisov-Musatov (russian: Ви́ктор Эльпидифо́рович Бори́сов-Муса́тов), ( – ) was a Russian painter, prominent for his unique Post-Impressionistic style that mixed Symbolism, pure de ...

, Modest Durnov and

Nikolai Feofilaktov Nikolai or Nikolay is an East Slavic variant of the masculine name Nicholas. It may refer to: People Royalty * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), or Nikolay I, Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 * Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918), or Ni ...

, among others. Scorpion, which had neither commercial success nor any academic background, proved to be instrumental in uniting the Russian symbolists into one single movement. The last book published here was ''Poetry like Magic'' by Konstantin Balmont in 1915.

References

{{reflist Publishing companies of Russia Book publishing companies of Russia