Which Dostoevsky novel was dictated to Anna Snitkina in 26 days in 1866?

The novel Dostoevsky dictated to Anna Snitkina in 26 days in 1866 was The Gambler.

Dostoevsky was under severe contractual pressure to deliver a new manuscript by a deadline. If he failed, his publisher could gain rights to his existing and future works. To meet the deadline, he hired the stenographer Anna Snitkina, who took dictation and quickly transcribed the novel. The work was completed in October 1866.

The Gambler draws on Dostoevsky’s own gambling addiction and his experiences in European resort towns. Its central character, Alexey Ivanovich, becomes entangled in obsession, dependence, social humiliation, and roulette. The novel’s compressed production history is one of the best-known episodes in Dostoevsky’s working life.

Anna and Dostoevsky married the following year. The novel is therefore connected not only with his financial crisis but also with the beginning of his second marriage.