Editorial foresight: Nikolay Nekrasov, Leo Tolstoy, Nikolay Strakhov

The author of the article assesses the special editorial vision of Nikolay Nekrasov, from the first works of the future great writer who saw his sight in Leo Tolstoy, and in Nikolay Strakhov – a person close to literature, but who initially had the makings of a critic, not an artist of the word. The article notes the special merit of Nikolay Nekrasov in the discovery of new talents and support of novice writers, we analyse the manner and specificity of the first works of Leo Tolstoy and Nikolay Strakhov, sent to Nikolay Nekrasov's journal Sovremennik (The Contemporary). The author of the work turns to the origins of the literary path of the writer and critic, denotes their peculiar convergence in themes: both novice authors were strongly influenced by the sentimental tradition and were attentive to spiritual quests, but that at the same time explains the difference in the talent of Leo Tolstoy and Nikolay Strakhov, which manifested itself even in relation to their own first works of fiction, as can be judged by their letters to Nikolay Nekrasov.