WHILE on his European travels Dostoevsky, at the age of 46, found himself in the neighbourhood of Baden-Baden, the home of the infamous Kurhaus casino. Ill health and hounding creditors had driven him and his wife Anna Grigorievna Snitkina, 25 years his junior, from Russia. Their financial situation was poor and Dostoevsky had already asked his publisher for an advance of 3500 roubles, which had been granted.

It should be noted that by this point in his life, Dostoevsky had already survived a mock execution, served four years hard labour in Siberia followed by another four in the military, and written, among a number of other…