ABSTRACT
Pre- and post-revolutionary critics have taken very divergent views of Catherine’s literary activity and influence, and it is necessary to turn to the Empress’s contemporaries or to nineteenth-century critics to obtain a balanced picture of her role, both as a writer and as a Maecenas. Her own writings occupy twelve substantial volumes of varying quality, and her works must be examined with a clear perception of their different nature, object and impact. 1 Even the purely literary productions usually had a political purpose or content.
