The Master and Margarita: Writing, Delayed Publication and the Circulation of Editions

The Master and Margarita is a novel left by Mikhail Bulgakov. The year 1928 marks the beginning of composition, not publication. Drawing on the author's dating of later manuscripts, J. A. E. Curtis places the first draft in 1928–1930. Initially centered on the events triggered by the devil's arrival in Moscow, it differed from later versions in character names, chapter arrangement and narrative methods.

In 1930, Bulgakov burned the early manuscript, although two damaged notebooks survived. He subsequently resumed writing, producing another draft with a complete plot in 1932–1936. The story of Margarita and her writer-lover gradually developed, and the title changed repeatedly. Even when gravely ill, he continued dictating revisions to his wife Elena, with the last recorded changes in February 1940. The novel's manuscript burning has a biographical background, but this does not make every scene a direct transcription of the author's experience.

References: [2]

The novel opens by placing literary figure Berlioz, the poet Ivan and the mysterious Woland at Moscow's Patriarch's Ponds. The next chapter abruptly shifts to ancient Jerusalem, depicting Pontius Pilate's interrogation of Yeshua. The tones differ sharply: a modern city full of misunderstandings and satire contrasts with a serious scene organized around power, fear and judgment.

The Jerusalem story appears not only through Woland's narration but also through Ivan's dreams and Margarita's reading of the Master's manuscript. These sources join into one narrative without a simple realistic explanation. Curtis argues that this structure repeatedly makes readers revise their understanding; the historical chapters are not merely detachable decoration.

References: [1] [2]

The Master writes a novel about Pilate, falls into fear after hostile criticism, burns his manuscript and leaves his former life. Margarita refuses to abandon him and enters Woland's world to recover her lover. The devil's entourage disrupts apartments, theaters and literary social spaces, exposing material desires, status privileges and the pursuit of fame through absurd events.

The ending does not give the writer success in the actual literary world. The Master releases Pilate from torment over the past and receives peace with Margarita, but whether his work changes Moscow's readers remains unanswered. Curtis interprets the conclusion as a shadowed form of personal release: creative work preserves spiritual value without public society necessarily understanding it. Love, mercy and responsibility are thus interwoven with the survival of writing.

References: [1] [2]

After Bulgakov's death in 1940, Elena preserved the manuscripts and continually sought publication. In 1946, she wrote to Stalin asking for her husband's work to be published, but the plans did not immediately materialize. A commission for the writer's literary estate, chaired by Konstantin Simonov, was established in 1956. Some plays and prose appeared in the early 1960s, gradually improving the conditions for publishing the novel.

In 1963, Elena retyped the novel for interested readers. She and Simonov also considered first publishing the ancient-Jerusalem chapters separately and then the main story, but the plan was not carried out. Bringing the manuscript to readers was therefore not accomplished by a single approval: it required sustained preservation, preparation, support-seeking and adjustments to publishing plans.

References: [2]

Moskva finally published the first part in its 1966 issue No. 11, with a preface by Simonov and an afterword by Abram Vulis; the second appeared in issue No. 1 of 1967. The first was the November issue. Although the latter was nominally the January issue, Curtis records that it was not actually released until mid-February. Issue dates and actual distribution therefore need to be distinguished.

The first serialization omitted material concerning the secret police, criticism of literary institutions and Margarita's nudity. Even so, it provoked a powerful response. Curtis records that Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn visited Elena in April 1967 to express admiration and offer help in securing proper publication. The serialization was both a breakthrough in circulation and a restricted text, not the first complete presentation of all the author's words.

References: [1] [2]

The Russian edition issued by YMCA-Press in Paris in 1967 retained the abridged text. In 1969, Frankfurt's Posev publishing house printed restored passages in italics and placed connecting phrases thought to have been added by censors in square brackets. The publisher sought to make alterations visible, but did not possess an unquestionably complete original manuscript.

After examining publisher archives, a 2024 study by M. V. Mishurovskaya and M. E. Savranskaya found that Posev used not only the Paris edition and a collection of omitted passages published in Bern, but also a German translation to locate gaps, translating some phrases back into Russian. Restoration could therefore introduce new variants. The Soviet Russian book edition of 1973 and later editorial work continued to change the text. Researchers must identify the edition they cite; “complete” does not mean that textual disputes ended.

References: [3] [2]