Abstract
The works of P.S. Romanov, who played a prominent role in the literary process in the 1920s, was forgotten for several decades after the writer's death. It was not until the 2000s that researchers, attracted by Romanov primarily as a master of the satirical story, began to take a more active interest in his prose. Despite the existence of monographs on Romanov, his manuscripts were overlooked and no attention was paid to their study. This article on Romanov's story “Childhood” (1924) is based entirely on archival material and should partially fill this gap. The reference to a number of documents, including sketches, draft versions, plans, diaries, autobiographies, and diary entries, has made it possible to uncover some of the “secrets&8j1; behind the creation of the story “Childhood”. This work represents only the first step towards a complete and exhaustive study of the history of the text. In the future, all the identified sources of the story's text are to be collected, described, clearly dated, and chronologically arranged.