Abstract. The article analyzes the evaluation of L.N. Tolstoy’s novelistic creativity by “Delo” magazine. The literary and aesthetic position of the publication was determined, on the one hand, by editorial views on the aims and tasks of literature in the contemporary cultural context, on the other hand, by the particular, highly dynamic socio-political situation in Russia that corrects the writer’s works. The attention of the magazine’s critics and journalists was focused on universal and general cultural values reflected in the novels of Tolstoy, his philosophical reflections.

Key words: L.N. Tolstoy, “Delo” magazine, journalism, literary criticism, tendentiousness of literature.