 The poem was first published, as a brochure, in 1878 in Berlin, under the title "The Dream of State Councillor Popov".In Russia the poem came out in 1882, #12 issue of "Russkaya starina" magazine (pp.107-712), dated (wrongly) 1874.It was greatly praised by many prominent authors of the time, including Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy.