Настоящий том представляет собой ранний дневник Пришвина (1905—1913), который рассматривался писателем как материал для задуманного им романа «Начало века», очерков и газетных статей. В отличие от хронологической структуры основного корпуса дневника писателя «Ранний дневник» выстроен тематически, сохранив при этом присущий жанру дневника стиль: записи не подвергались литературной обработке. Подготовка текста Л. А. Рязановой, Я. З. Гришиной; Комментарий Я. З. Гришиной; Указатель имен Т. Н. Бедняковой.
Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin (Russian: Михаил Михайлович Пришвин) (4 February 1873 - January 16, 1954) was a Russian/Soviet writer.
Mikhail Prishvin was born in the family mansion of Krutschevo, near the city of Yelets in what is now Lipetsk Oblast into the family of a merchant. In 1893-1897, he studied at a polytechnic school in Riga and was once arrested for his involvement with Marxist circles. In 1902, Prishvin graduated from the University of Leipzig with a degree in agronomics. During World War I, he worked as a military journalist. After the war, Prishvin was employed as a publicist and then a rural teacher. He began writing for magazines in 1898, but his first short story, "Sashok," was published in 1906. Prishvin's works are full of poetics, exceptional keenness of observation, and descriptions of nature. Many of his works were translated into different languages and became part of the gold fund of the Soviet children's literature. Mikhail Prishvin was awarded two orders.