Academician V.A. Chudinov's book "Secret Writing in the Drawings of A.S. Pushkin" occupies a special place among works devoted to Russian written culture. The discovery of V.A. Chudinov breaks down the traditional ideas that texts are divided into handwritten and printed, introducing previously unknown secret texts into scientific use. V.A. Chudinov managed to discover a completely new cultural layer, standing on the border between literature and fine art. The scientist proves that the leading authors of the 19th century, especially A. S. Pushkin, possessed the ability to create drawings with the text inscribed in them, addressed to a narrow circle of initiates. The book not only provides an author's reading of several hundred similar drawings, but also explores the origins of this tradition and the reasons for its extinction in the middle of the 19th century.