"Unfortunate Nikanor, or the Adventure of the Life of a Russian Nobleman N * * * * * * * *" is a scientific publication of a popular anonymous novel of the second half of the 18th century. The composition is interesting both as a fact of the prehistory of mass literature, and as a reflection of the life and language of the era, and as an example of the interweaving of book tradition and document. The Supplements reproduce the odes of A.P. Nazariev, which were not reprinted for two and a half centuries, whose service biography was partially reflected in the novel, which allows us to perceive the text as a romanization of the life of a real person and assume that A.P. Nazariev was not only a hero, but also the author of the work.