9 - A move to Moscow (1779–83)

Summary

… the court is usually in Petersburg and not Moscow, but Moscow is farther from Petersburg than Versailles from Paris.

Sumarokov.

Lessee of Moscow University Press

The need to secure the family estate took Novikov in the summer of 1778 to Moscow, where he took advantage of his visit to renew some of his St Petersburg masonic acquaintances who met at Prince Nikolay Trubetskoy's. It was during this visit that Novikov was persuaded against his better instinct to accept the seventh degree of the Swedish system of masonry, but the offer of a place in the masonic hierarchy to him suggests that he was regarded as an influential visitor, worthy of cultivation. Kheraskov, as curator of the University, must have hoped that Novikov, as a man knowledgeable about publishing, might help him to restore the fortunes of the ailing Moscow University Press, and the question was discussed at gatherings with Trubetskoy, his half-brother. Later, at Novikov's interrogation, Sheshkovsky attempted to force Novikov to admit that there had been underhand dealings at this point, an exploitation of personal masonic links to the disadvantage of the University and the public interest. There is little doubt that it was through his new masonic acquaintances that Novikov was presented with a possible business proposition in 1778. But at that time few, apart from Novikov, could have realised the great opportunity behind the proposition.