Publications in the Literature section

"Apostle" - the first dated printed book in Rus'

In March 1564, the first printed, dated book, “The Apostle,” was published. The history of book printing in Russia began with it. We recall interesting facts about the Apostle and its publishers.

Books "By Hand"

Ivan III Vasilievich. Portrait from the Tsar's Title Book. 17th century

Title page of the manuscript “Stoglava” from the Main Collection of the Library of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

First printer Ivan Fedorov. Ivan Tomashevich. 1904

Printing in Russia was preceded by the era of handwritten books. They copied them in monasteries, and at the same time they did not do without the “human factor”. To prevent errors and deviations from church norms from appearing in books, the rules for the work of “copyists” of sacred texts were published in Stoglav in 1551. The collection also contained church rules and instructions, ancient Russian norms of law and morality.

“The blessed Tsar and Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of All Rus' ordered holy books to be bought at auction and invested in holy churches. But among them there were few suitable ones - they all turned out to be spoiled by scribes who were ignorant and ignorant of the sciences. Then he began to think about how to organize the printing of books, so that from now on the holy books would be published in a corrected form.”

Ivan Fedorov, afterword to “The Apostle”

The first printing house in Rus'

Progress helped us begin to solve the problem nationwide. A century earlier, the printing press was invented, and later it appeared in Russia. In the middle of the 16th century, several “anonymous” - without indicating the publisher - books of religious content were published in Rus'. These were three Gospels, two Psalms and the Triodion. In 1553, Tsar Ivan the Terrible ordered the construction of a Printing House using funds from the royal treasury - not far from the Kremlin, on Nikolskaya Street. Of the buildings of the first printing house, the oldest one has survived - the “correction room” or proofreading room.

By order of the sovereign to “find the mastery of printed books,” the deacon of the Kremlin Church of St. Nicholas Gostunsky, Ivan Fedorov, took up the task. Fedorov was widely educated: he knew Greek and Latin, knew how to bind books and was engaged in foundry.

Why "Apostle"

Monument to Ivan Fedorov, Moscow. Photo: artpoisk.info

"The Apostle", 1564. Book cover. Photo: mefodiya.ru

The site of the former printing yard, Moscow. Photo: mefodiya.ru

To print the first edition, they took the “Acts and Epistles of the Apostles,” written by the Evangelist Luke, part of the New Testament. The book was used in divine services, in the training of priests, and for teaching literacy in parochial schools.

Printing such a serious book required careful preparation. For a new endeavor, Ivan Fedorov needed assistants - among them was Pyotr Mstislavets, who is also considered one of the first book printers in Rus'. At first, everyone learned to type text and print it. Fedorov and his assistants made forms for each letter, cast more and more lead letters of different fonts, and cut out wooden ornaments to decorate the chapters. The preparation process was personally supervised by the sovereign.

Ivan Fedorov and Metropolitan Macarius were especially diligent in selecting the primary source - versions of the handwritten “Apostles” were sent from monasteries. At the Printing Yard, a “reference room” was opened, where a sample was prepared for printing. The text of the book itself required elaboration.

“It must be said that Ivan Fedorov “lightened” the book by eliminating from it many official materials that were not part of the canonical text, but were traditionally placed in the handwritten Apostles. These are all kinds of prefaces, interpretations, etc.”

Evgeniy Nemirovsky, book scholar, Doctor of Historical Sciences

Almost ten years passed from the royal command to start the printing press to the actual printing. Only in April 1563 did the craftsmen begin to make the book itself.

Working on a book

Fragment of the book "Apostle". 1564

Fragment of the book "Apostle". 1564

It took almost a year to print the first book. As a result, the font sample was taken from the “handwritten semi-chart” of the 16th century - medium-sized round letters with a slight slant to the right. Church books were usually copied in this style. To make the printed book more convenient to read, the craftsmen painstakingly aligned the lines and spaces between words. For printing we used glued French paper - thin and durable. Ivan Fedorov engraved the text himself and typed the text himself.

In 1564, the first Russian printed dated book was published. It had 534 pages, each with 25 lines. The circulation at that time was impressive - about two thousand copies. About 60 books have survived to this day in museums and libraries.

A work of printing art from the 16th century

Frontispiece and title page of "The Apostle". 1564. Copy from the State Public Scientific and Technical Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Fragment of the book "Apostle". 1564. Copy from the State Public Scientific and Technical Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“Apostle” was decorated in the style of ancient Russian handwritten books. The wooden binding was covered with morocco with gold embossing and brass clasps. Inside, “The Apostle” was “with pictures”: the book was decorated with 48 drawings of intricately intertwined herbs with fruits and cones. The printer highlighted the beginning of the chapter with an ornament, and the initial letters and inserts were also highlighted with red - cinnabar. The paints turned out to be of such high quality that they did not fade even after centuries.

With such a traditional design, a new decorative element appeared in the “Apostle”: an engraved frontispiece - a drawing placed on the same spread as the title page. It depicts the figure of the Evangelist Luke in an arch on two columns.

“Last year they introduced printing... and I myself saw with what dexterity books were already printed in Moscow.”, - noted the work of Moscow printers in 1564, the Italian aristocrat Raphael Barberini, who visited Russia in those years.

Years of preparation and meticulous work on the book paid off: the researchers did not find a single error or typo in the book.

The author of the afterword spoke about the great church construction “across all the cities” of Muscovite Rus', especially “in the newly enlightened place in the city of Kazan and within its borders,” and the need for printed church books, not distorted by scribes: “all corruption from the prescriptive unlearned and unskilled in mind."

Other books by Ivan Fedorov

A year after the release of “The Apostle,” Ivan Fedorov published a collection of prayers called “The Book of Hours.” The book was published in two “factories,” that is, publications. The pioneer printer spent about three months on the job, after which he left Moscow for Lvov.

“...It is not fitting for me to shorten the time of my life either by plowing or sowing seeds, because instead of a plow I master the art of hand tools, and instead of bread I must sow spiritual seeds in the Universe and distribute this spiritual food to everyone according to rank...”

Ivan Fedorov

Later, he published another version of “The Apostle” and the first Russian textbook, “The ABC,” following his life principle of “sowing spiritual seeds.” Ivan Fedorov published another book in the printing house of the city of Ostrog in 1581 - the Ostrog Bible.

An important milestone in the development of writing and literature was the printing of books in Rus'. With the development of statehood, the issue of lack of books became acute. There were written samples, but their creation took a lot of time.

In Europe during this period (mid-16th century) printing presses already existed. understood the invaluable role of books in the process of state formation. He contributed to the founding of the first printing house in Moscow.

The most educated people of that time were recruited to work on the first printed edition. The goal of the young king was to unite a large number of Orthodox peoples on one territory and into one state. There was a need for widespread church and secular education, therefore, the priesthood and educators needed a high-quality printed publication.

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The first Russian printed book - the history of creation

Preparations for printing the original source of knowledge took a total of a decade. The creation of the first copy of printed art was preceded by a long construction and arrangement of the printing house.

In 1563, the printer and inventor Ivan Fedorov and his faithful friend and student Pyotr Mstislavets began printing a unique book that had no analogues at that time, called “The Apostle.”

The printers spent 12 months working on the first edition. Printer Ivan Fedorov put into his brainchild all the knowledge and skills that he acquired throughout his life. The first non-manuscript copy turned out to be truly a masterpiece.

The weighty volume was framed in wood, which the creators covered with thin leather with amazing gold embossing. Large capital letters were decorated with unprecedented herbs and flowers.

The first edition was dated March 1, 1564. Later, this date began to be considered the year of the founding of Russian book printing. In the modern history of the Russian state, Orthodox Book Day is celebrated on March 14. “The Apostle” has been preserved unchanged until the 21st century, and is located in the Moscow Historical Museum.

The beginning of book printing in Russia

As soon as the first book of the Moscow printing house “Apostol” (“Acts and Epistles of the Apostles”) was published, the Old Russian pioneer printers began to create a new church publication called “Chasovnik”. This work of printed art took not a year, but only a few weeks.

In parallel with the creation of church books, work was underway on the first Russian textbook “ABC”. The children's book appeared in 1574.

Thus, in the 16th century, book printing was born and established in Rus', and the first non-manuscript church books appeared. The creation of a children's textbook was a very important stage in the development of Slavic writing and literature.

Who printed the first books in Russia

The founder of book printing in Rus' was the inventor Ivan Fedorov. The man, even by modern standards, was very educated and enthusiastic. The man was educated at a university in Krakow (now the territory of modern Poland). In addition to his native language, he spoke two more languages ​​- Latin and Ancient Greek.

The man was well versed in carpentry, painting, and foundry crafts. He himself cut and smelted matrices for letters, and made bindings for his books. These skills helped him fully master the book printing process. Nowadays, mention of the first Russian book printing is often associated with the name of Ivan Fedorov.

The first printing house in Rus' - its creation and development

In 1553, the first printing house was founded in Moscow by order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The printing house, as the printing house was called in ancient times, was located next to the Kremlin, not far from the St. Nicholas Monastery, and was built with monetary donations from the ruler himself.

Church deacon Ivan Fedorov was placed at the head of the printing house. It took 10 years to equip the building of the ancient printing house and create printing equipment.

The printing house was made of stone, and was popularly called the “printing hut.”

The first printed publication “Apostle” was created here, and later the first “ABC” and “Book of Hours” were printed. Already in the 17th century, more than 18 book titles were published.

Later, printer Ivan Fedorov and his assistant, due to the slander of ill-wishers, will be forced to flee Moscow, fleeing the wrath of the tsar. But the pioneer printers will be able to save the equipment and take it with them outside the Principality of Moscow. The first printing house on Nikolskaya Street will be burned by book fighters.

Soon Ivan Fedorov will open a new printing house in Lvov, where he will publish several more editions of the Apostle, in the introduction to which the printer will talk about the persecution of ill-wishers and envious people.

Ivan Fedorov's first printing press

You can see this value, touch history, and breathe in hoary antiquity at the Lviv Historical Museum. The weight of the machine is about 104 kg. The font was designed to resemble written letters. It was close to hand writing that was understandable to ordinary Russian people. The slant to the right is maintained, the letters are straight and of the same size. Margins and spacing between lines are strictly observed. The title and capital letters were printed in red, and the main text in black.

The use of two-color printing is the invention of Ivan Fedorov himself. Before him, no one in the world had used multiple colors on one printed page. The quality of printing and materials is so impeccable that the first printed book, “The Apostle,” has survived to this day and is in the Moscow Historical Museum.

In the 16th century there were two significant events for the history of Moscow, and subsequently for the history of Rus' - the construction of St. John the Blessed Cathedral in the capital and the creation of a printing press by Ivan Fedorov.

The first textbooks in Rus'

The development of education was important for the formation of the Russian state. Books copied by hand were characterized by a large number of errors and distortions. Their authors were not always well educated themselves. Therefore, to teach children to read and write, well-readable, understandable, non-handwritten textbooks were needed.

The first book for teaching children to read and write was the printed volume “The Book of Hours” by Ivan Fedorov. For quite a long time, children learned to read from this book. Two copies of this publication have survived to this day. One volume is in Belgium, the other is in the Leningrad Library. Later, “ABC” will be published in Moscow, which became the first textbook for children. Today, this rare copy of ancient printing is located in the United States.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible, despite all the ambiguous attitudes towards him, understood that it was impossible to build a strong, developed state without smart, educated people. It is necessary to keep up with the times and keep up with advanced countries. The source of true truthful knowledge at all times has been and will be the book. Only reading, literate, educated people will be able to build an advanced power and introduce technologies in accordance with the requirements of the time.

The founder of book printing in Rus', Ivan Fedorov, was a genius of his time, who was able to move Russia from the point of ignorance and feeblemindedness, and direct it along the path of enlightenment and development. Despite the disgrace and persecution that befell him, Ivan Fedorov did not abandon his life’s work and continued to work in a foreign land. Its first printed editions became the basis of writing and literature of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Rice. 4.2. Doe. Engraving from the General History of Quadrupeds, 1790.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries. The range of printed products expanded and periodicals began to be printed. For the first time, a printed newspaper appeared. The prototype of a newspaper is considered to be ancient handwritten news reports. In the 16th century in Venice, such a report was paid for in a small coin called gazzetta, which is where the Russian word “newspaper” comes from. The first printed newspaper appeared in Germany in 1609. A weekly newspaper began to be published in Paris in 1632, and a daily and regular newspaper (Leipziger Zeitung) - in Germany in 1669. In 1665, the world's first scientific journal began to be published in France (Journal des savants).

The range of printed books has also changed. In the 16th century, as we remember, religious themes predominated among European books, and the books themselves were printed in Latin. Starting from the 17th century, the number of political books, short stories, novels has been increasing, and these books are printed not in Latin, but in vernacular languages ​​- French, German, Dutch, etc. As for Russia, the first books there were published in the Old Slavic language and were also of a religious nature. At the beginning of the 17th century, along with printed books, handwritten books were widespread, which completely satisfied the need for secular literature, because There were few literate people in Russia, but from the middle of the 17th century. Secular books also began to be published.

In 1707-1710 In Russia, the reforms of Peter I were carried out. The Emperor personally edited the font designs. He removed a number of letters from the Russian alphabet that he considered unnecessary. A decree was issued on the use of the civil font. The Cyrillic alphabet was allowed to be used only for church books. In 1711, the first printing house was built in the young capital - St. Petersburg.

Books with engravings bound in leather were expensive, so they had limited demand. Both publishers and readers were interested in making the book cheaper. Therefore, during the 18th century. leather binding was gradually replaced by cardboard and paper covers; the buyer could eventually order a cover for the book, a binding, or do without it at all. To increase book sales at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The title of the book and the name of the author on special paper stickers began to appear on the spines of books and on the front pages of covers. A reader attracted by such advertising, going to a bookstore to buy one publication, could buy others.

Book printing developed successfully. Over the last 10 years of the end of the 18th century, 900 new newspapers were founded in European countries, the circulation of books, newspapers, and magazines increased, and hundreds of private publishing houses opened. With the increase in the range of printed products and the increase in circulation, the need for paper also increased. Therefore, as we have previously reported, two inventions were made during this time period to satisfy the need for paper. In 1670, a roll was designed in Holland - a device for grinding fibrous materials in paper production. And in 1799, the world's first paper-making machine was manufactured.

During the 17th-18th centuries, printing technology also improved. Flat printing - lithography - was invented, and an engraving with printing elements recessed to different depths was created. In 1677, Simon Gutovsky built the first metallographic machine in Russia. At the end of the 17th century. The entire primer compiled from the deep engraving was compiled by the monk Karillon Istomin. Typographic fonts were improved and new typefaces were created. Pierre Fournier was the first to propose a typographic system of measures for measuring and unifying font sizes. An attempt was made, although unsuccessful, to speed up manual typing. In 1725, the Scotsman T. Wildim proposed using logos for typing text (from the Greek logos - word and typos - imprint). These were the names of the letters with the most common words and individual syllables. In 1729, Wilm Guede proposed casting stereotypes - monolithic copies from the set, made on a scale of 1:1. He used gypsum matrices to cast stereotypes. These matrices contained in-depth impressions in plaster obtained from the strips of the set. Such a matrix is ​​kept in the British Museum. In 1789, a method was proposed for producing a letterpress printing plate by etching metal. At the end of the 13th century. An outstanding discovery was made related to wood engraving - end-cut woodblock printing was invented. Printing technology also improved. In 1790 in England, W. Nicholson patented several designs of printing machines. Unlike a printing press, printing machines not only mechanize the creation of pressure to transfer ink from the plate to the paper, but also other stages of the printing process, for example, applying printing ink to the plate. Finally, in 1800 in England, Charles Stanhope made the first printing press that consisted entirely of metal and made it possible to print from plates that had twice the area than those used on wooden presses.

In 1643, the Dutchman Ludwig von Siegen created an engraving with printing elements recessed to different depths, which was later called mezzotint (from Italian mezzo - middle and tinto - painted). When making such forms, the surface of the metal plate was pre-treated with a special tool - a rocker with sharp teeth. Small depressions remained on the plate evenly distributed over the surface, giving a black tone when printed. When making the form, the engraver, using special tools, smoothed out individual areas; as a result, the indentations became smaller, and the thickness of the paint layers that were transferred from them became smaller, and, consequently, their brightness increased. Such printing plates were made by hand, but the nature of their printing elements is the same as that of modern intaglio printing plates.

In 1765, the Frenchman Jean Leprince, who worked in Russia for a long time, created an aquatint engraving.

This engraving also contains printing areas, deepened in different ways, but it is made using etching. The technological process was as follows. First, the contours of the design were applied to the copper plate and lightly etched. Then it was powdered with rosin powder and heated. As a result, small depressions were formed on the plate, the so-called aquatint grain. Then the melted resin was removed, the lightest areas of the future image were covered with acid-resistant varnish, and etched again. The operation was repeated several times. The result was printing elements recessed to different depths in accordance with the transmitted tones. Around 1720, French artist Jacques Leblond developed the technology First, he tried to decompose a color halftone image into seven primary colors by eye and then reproduce it on a combined print. Soon the artist realized that it was enough to limit himself to three colors - red, blue and yellow. Subsequently, he introduced additional brown (according to some sources, black) paint, using it as a contour paint. To accurately register inks during printing, Leblon used what is now called “pin register.” In each form, Leblon drilled holes located equally in relation to the images, and on the table of the metallographic press he fixed metal pins onto which he placed the forms during the printing process. The traces of holes left on the prints made it possible to reliably control the match of colors during printing (registration). Later, for these purposes, they began to put “crosses” on the edged fields. Leblon's works laid the foundations for color separation, which then began to be used in the practice of multicolor printing. They were improved and became widespread much later, when photoreproduction processes entered the practice of color reproduction. Nowadays, digital technologies are used for these purposes. As we will see later, color originals are reproduced with four colors - magenta (red-blue), cyan (blue-green), yellow (red-green) and black, and color separation is carried out using optical devices called filters.

At the beginning of the 18th century. Woodcut was almost replaced by in-depth metal engraving, which was distinguished by high image quality and good reproduction of halftones. But metal engraving had a number of disadvantages. As we know, printing from in-depth engraving required very high pressure, so it could not be combined with text in one printing plate. In addition, the process of making such an engraving itself was highly labor-intensive.

At the end of the 18th century. Englishman Thomas Bewick revived wood engraving by creating woodblock prints. For his work, he used cross-cut boards made from hardwood. He made the boards from small blocks, selecting them in such a way that cross-sections of the fibers were used in them. In Fig. Figure 4.1 shows the process of making a woodcut board. First, the log was sawn into circles about 30 cm thick, which were then planed, sanded and brought in thickness to the height of the typographic font (25.1 cm) (Fig. 4.1a), then rectangles were cut from the circles (Fig. 4.1b), from which then the end boards were assembled (Fig. 4.1c). On end boards, all cutting directions are equal, so you can cut very thin strokes and convey different halftones with shading. Edge woodcut is also called halftone.

The works of T. Bewick illustrate the General History of Quadrupeds, published in 1790, and the History of English Birds (1797-1804). In Fig. Figure 4.2 shows an engraving from “The History of Quadrupeds”. Soon, T. Bewick's woodblock prints began to occupy a dominant place in the decoration of books; they were also used in illustrating newspapers and magazines. Only in the late 80s. XIX century it was gradually replaced by raster autotype, i.e. converting a halftone image into a micro-line image at the photography stage using an optical instrument - a raster. We will get acquainted with this process in more detail later.

The first forms of flat printing, lithography (from the Greek lithos - stone) were intended for direct transfer of paint to paper and were made on stone - limestone (Fig. 4.3). On such forms, hydrophobic printing elements were created by drawing with greasy paint or a greasy pencil, and hydrophilic ones were created by treating them with a special solution consisting of a polymer (gum arabic) and nitric acid.

Senefelder decided to print his plays himself, but he did not have the funds to buy a printing font. Then he decided to make a letterpress printing plate from stone (limestone), deepening the blank elements with nitric acid. It should be noted that at the end of the 18th century. Printing plates made of stone were already known: Simon Schmid carried out printing from stone slabs, engraving printing plates on them, both with raised and recessed printing elements.

First, Senefelder, by drawing an image on limestone and etching the stone in areas free from the image, received the letterpress form. The printing areas on it had a small height - a little more than 2 mm. Getting good impressions from this mold was problematic, but Senefelder successfully used it to print music.

Subsequently, the inventor noticed that thick printing ink adhered much better to areas where it was already present. Having written a few words on the surface of the stone, he treated it with a weak solution of nitric acid. An insignificant relief was formed, which could not be used for letterpress printing, since the paint would also roll up the white spaces when applied. Then he moistened the form with water, to which he added a polymer - gum arabic and nitric acid, and then applied paint to it, which lay only on the printing areas. This is how forms of flat printing appeared, in which, as we already know, both the whitespace and printing areas lie almost in the same plane, but the whitespace perceives only water (they are hydrophilic), and the printing areas only accept ink (they are hydrophobic). This happened a little over 200 years ago in 1798 (according to some sources in 1797).

Senefelder constantly improved lithography. Subsequently, he designed and built the first lithographic machine (Fig. 4.4), in addition, he wrote a textbook on lithography.

Lithographic printing used a direct method of transferring ink to paper, so the image on the plate had to be mirrored. At first, the text was written in mirror form with a greasy pencil or special ink on stone, which was inconvenient. Senefelder suggested using transfer lithography. With this method, a direct image was first drawn with thick paint on paper and then transferred to stone.

Lithography, or as it was then called “chemical printing,” invented at the end of the 18th century, subsequently became widespread. First of all, lithography was used for printing illustrations. The main advantage of lithography compared to wood or metal engravings was its low cost, because Significantly less labor was required to produce the printing plate. It’s not for nothing that this method was called “poor man’s engraving.” From printing, lithography was gradually replaced by flat offset printing. But, due to the fact that lithography has good visual capabilities, it, along with wood and metal engravings, has found wide application as easel graphics: artists themselves created and printed lithographs. Adolf Menzel, Delacroix, and Daumier worked in the field of lithography. Lithographs were also created by such famous Russian artists as Kiprensky, Shishkin, Repin, Serov and others.

By the 18th century refers to the activities of such typographers and artists in the field of type as John Baskerville (1750-1779) and Giambatista Bodoni (1740-1813). The Baskerville and Bodoni typefaces they developed were also used in the 20th century. It should be noted that even initially the bodoni typeface was developed for the Russian font.

Until the middle of the 18th century. There was no standardization of typographic fonts. Each printer produced type in the sizes he considered necessary. Therefore, it was impossible to mix products obtained from different word makers in one typesetting form. Although even in the specialized literature of that time there were statements that all letters should have the same height (height), word makers did not follow these recommendations. In 1737, Pierre Fournier proposed a typographic point equal to 1/364 royal feet, or 0.375 mm, as a unit of measurement for type. Fournier calculated the size of the printing point inaccurately. He was later corrected by Firmin Didot; the typographical system of measures received his name and was used as long as metal typesetting existed. It was based on a point equal to 0.3759 mm. 12 points made up a cicero or 1/4 square; four ciceros - one square. In England and the USA, a different system was in effect, in which a point is equal to 0.35 mm, and 12 points make up a pike. Due to the transition to computer typing, this system is now in effect everywhere.

Fournier also improved the typesetting tools. He designed a typemeter that could measure type, lines and stripes.

The first newspaper appeared in Germany in 1609. Weekly in Paris 1632. Daily and regular in Germany in 1669. In 1665 the first scientific journal appeared in France. The range of books has changed. In the 17th century the number of political books, short stories, novels, published in vernacular languages ​​is growing. In the 17th century. Handwritten books were widespread and satisfied the need for secular literature. Secular books began to be published. In 1670, a roller device for grinding fibers on paper was designed in Holland. In 1677 Gutowski built the world's first metallographic machine. At the end they printed the primer.

Characteristics of book printing in the 18th century.

In 1702 the first Russian newspaper “Vedomosti”; it is considered a continuation of “chimes”. Since 1728, the first monthly magazine in Russia, “monthly historical, genealogical and geographical notes in Vedomosti,” has been published. In 1769, the first Russian paper money was printed in St. Petersburg. In 1796 in Perm, Pyotr Filippov published the first book on printing, “history, professions, technology and printing technology.” In 1707-1710, the reforms of Peter 1 were carried out in Russia. He removed a number of letters from the Russian alphabet that he considered unnecessary. A decree was issued on the use of the civil font. Cyrillic alphabet is only for church books. In 1711, the first printing house in St. Petersburg. Books with engravings bound in leather were expensive, so leather binding was replaced by cardboard and paper covers. The title and author were placed on the spine of books and on the first pages of covers. Book printing developed successfully, 900 new newspapers were created, the circulation of books, newspapers, magazines, and about a hundred publishing houses increased. The need for paper has increased. In 1799, the world's first paper-making machine. In 1725 T. Wildim proposed using logos for typing text. In 1729 Wilm Guesde proposed casting stereotypes. In 1789, a method of producing letterpress printing plates by etching metal. At the end of the 13th century, end block printing was invented. In 1790 in England, W. Nicholson patented several designs of printing machines. In 1800 in England, Charles Stanhope made a printing press, consisting of metal, and allowing printing from plates that had 2 times the area than those used on wooden presses.

In the 17th century handwritten bookmaking in Rus' continued to develop and played a major role in Russian culture and education.

The center for the production of handwritten church service books was and continues to be monasteries. Business writing represented various office documents and acts and was under the jurisdiction of a special system of administrative institutions and the institute of area clerks who performed notarial functions.

Compared to the previous century, the number of professional scribes has increased. In the 17th century the number of secular scribes reached 45. One of the forms of organizing the work of scribe-craftsmen was workshops. For example, in the art workshops of the Ambassadorial Prikaz, gold writers worked - artists, scribes, bookbinders, who mainly carried out orders from the royal court and the Ambassadorial Prikaz, but sometimes accepted orders from private individuals.

Existed in Russia in the 17th century. and private workshops that brought together booksellers and artists. The work of scribal workshops was characterized by a division of labor - each manuscript was compiled by several masters.

The introduction of book printing in the Moscow state, as already noted, did not lead to the elimination of the handwritten method of producing books. Until the 18th century. handwritten books in Russia were still more widely distributed than printed books. There were a number of reasons for this. This is the imperfection of the craft technique of printing, and the high cost of a printed book compared to a cheaper handwritten one; this is also the influence of the church, which for a long time regulated reading, including printed books, a fact that is characteristic not only of Russia. “In cases where, for one reason or another, a printed book could not satisfy public interest, a handwritten book came to the rescue, not being so closely connected with the censorship and political control that existed over the printed word.”

Basic printing houses. In the 17th century The largest and, in fact, the only publishing center in the Moscow state was the Printing Yard in Moscow. Over the course of a century, it was built, expanded, and the printed products it produced grew.

In the first decade of the 17th century. There were three printing houses in Moscow. After the death of Andronik Nevezha in 1602, his son, Ivan Andronikov Nevezhin, became the head of the Printing House.

In 1605, a second “hut” was opened at the Printing Yard. A “binder of printed books” worked there. Originally from Volyn, he may have studied typographical craft from Ivan Fedorov himself. At the head of the third “hut” was a master. Thus, already in the first decade of the 17th century. There were three printing presses in Moscow, each of which had its own master. Church service books were printed in them: gospels, menaions, church charter.

During the Polish-Lithuanian invasion, “the printing house and the entire standard of that printing business were ruined by those enemies and adversaries and quickly burned by fire...”.

During this difficult time for the country, book printing continued in Nizhny Novgorod. Anikita Fofanov moved here from Moscow. In 1613, he published a small brochure (notebook), the so-called “Nizhny Novgorod Monument”, the afterword to which tells about the invasion of the Polish gentry into the Russian land and the atrocities committed. The author expresses joy at the liberation of his homeland from enemy troops and the revival of the Moscow state.

In 1614, the Moscow Printing House was restored, and Anikita Fofanov, who had returned from Nizhny Novgorod, resumed his activities there.

In the second decade of the 17th century. the craft stage of the development of book printing, when almost all production operations were carried out by one person, gives way to the manufacturing stage - with its inherent specialization and division of labor. Working at the Printing Yard at this time were typesetters, disassemblers, teredorshchiki (printers), batyrshchiki (put paint on the typesetting form), carvers of punches for casting type, word-letters, bookbinders, banner makers (decorated “tray” copies intended for the Tsar and his inner circle ). One of the main institutions of the Printing House became the correctness with a large staff of references, readers and scribes, who were entrusted with the “right”, i.e. proofreading and editing of published books. Correction also ensured that only those books were published that were approved by the church and corrected accordingly. Among the inquiry officers there were many highly educated people for their time: Fyodor Polikarpov, Sylvester Medvedev, Epifaniy Slavinetsky, Arseny Sukhanov and others.

In the early 30s. XVII century A new master appeared at the Printing Yard - Vasily Fedorovich Burtsov-Protopopov. He headed a special department of the printing house and was called the “clerk of the ABC business.” From 1633 to 1642 he published 17 books.

At the end of the 70s. The so-called “Upper” palace printing house was set up in the Trinity Tower of the Kremlin. It was the tsar’s personal printing house, which worked under the leadership of the famous scientist, poet and playwright Simeon of Polotsk. Unlike other printing houses, it had the right to publish books without special permission from the patriarch. During the four years of its work - from 1679 to 1683 - the “Upper” printing house published six books, including several works by Simeon of Polotsk himself (“The Rhymed Psalter”, “The Story of Barlaam and Josaph”, “The Soulful Dinner”, “Suppers” soulful").

In addition to the Moscow Printing Yard in the 17th century. There was a printing house in the Iversky Monastery in the Novgorod region. Here, by order of Patriarch Nikon, the printing house of the Kuteinsky Monastery (near the city of Orsha) was transferred in 1655. During 1658-1665 Three small books and a royal letter of grant to the Iversk Monastery were printed in the Iverskaya printing house. In 1665 the printing house was moved to New Jerusalem (Istra).

From 1647 to 1679 a printing house operated in Novgorod Seversky. It published several publications in Slavic and Polish, the most significant of which was “Anfilagion”. In 1680 it was transferred to Chernigov.

Subjects and types of publications. In the 17th century The subject matter of a handwritten book is becoming more and more diverse - it begins to gradually lose its specific religious character, becoming more secular and closer to life. Interest in natural sciences and humanities is growing in Moscow society. Original Russian and translated works on history and geography are becoming widespread in handwritten lists. Interest in natural science is reflected in the so-called “herbalists” - unique medical books describing herbs, their healing properties and methods of collecting them. In the 17th century interest in general issues of biology develops. Translated works devoted to agriculture and animal husbandry appeared. The importance that accurate calendar calculations had for practical economic activities gave rise to the interest of Russian people in astronomy. In the middle of the 17th century. The first presentations of Copernicus’s views on the world appeared (“The Disgrace of the Entire Universe, or the New Atlas,” “Selenography,” etc.). Among the handwritten books there were works providing information from the fields of mechanics, physics, and chemistry. Let us also note the appearance of handwritten books of technical content - on chemical technology and mining, on military equipment. A remarkable monument of a Russian handwritten book of a technical nature is the “Charter of cannon and other matters relating to military science,” one of the compilers of which was the typographer and expert on military equipment Anisim Radishchevsky, already known to us.

The handwritten book reflected the development of Russian historical thought. Description of the events of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. contained in the book "New Chronicler", written ca. 1630 A number of works describe historical events of the past, in particular, the annexation of Siberia (“Siberian Chronicles”).

The vast majority of literary works of the 17th century were distributed in manuscripts. Along with historical stories, works of a legendary nature and everyday stories became popular (“The Story of the Russian nobleman Frol Skobeev”, “The Tale of Misfortune”). The first dramatic works appeared in Russian, written in syllabic verse. Their author was Simeon of Polotsk. A large place among the literary works was occupied by satire, exposing the vices of the nobles and clergy, depicting the poverty and lack of rights of the people (“The ABC of a Naked and Poor Man,” “The Tale of the Shemyakin Court,” “Service to the Tavern”). In the second half of the 17th century. Translated collections of moralizing tales and stories became widespread in Russia: “The Great Mirror”, “The Most Bright Star”, “Roman Deeds”.

By the 17th century refers to the appearance of the first Russian (still handwritten) periodicals. These are the so-called “Chimes”, or “News”. Sometimes they were also called “Columns”. So called because they were written on long - several meters - narrow sheets of paper, “in a column”, i.e. top down. The Chimes were read aloud to the Tsar in the presence of a small number of close boyars. They paid main attention to military events abroad, court life, trade and various incidents. In “Chimes” there is information about the Moscow state, gleaned by officials of the Ambassadorial Prikaz from foreign mail: about the schism (“the great unrest about faith”), about the Streltsy revolt, about the struggle of the Ukrainian people for independence. The earliest, non-preserved numbers of the Moscow Chimes date back to 1621. At first they were compiled in one copy as a secret diplomatic document. In the last two decades of the 17th century. They were already copied in several copies, and they gradually began to lose their secret character. The Chimes existed until 1701, serving as the basis for the first Russian printed newspaper Vedomosti.

Unlike a handwritten book, which varied in subject matter, the content of printed books of the 17th century. determined mainly by the needs of the church. “Apostles” and “psalters” still make up the bulk of the production of the Moscow Printing House.

At the same time, changes in the life of Moscow society - the development of the economy, public administration, changes in culture and education - lead to some important changes in the publishing activities of the Printing House. A progressive factor should be considered the publication of works intended not for the church service itself, but for everyday reading. This group includes the works of church writers Ephraim the Syrian, John Chrysostom and others: collections compiled from the works of Byzantine writers, Ukrainian and Russian authors. This also includes the “Prologue” - an extensive collection of hagiographic and moralizing articles. Both the collections (or more precisely, “soborniki”) and the “Prologue” were very popular among Russian readers. The Moscow edition of the Prologue in 1641 was the first Russian printed book for reading.

A special group of publications from the 17th century. compose primers and alphabets intended for teaching reading and writing. Their main text consisted of prayers, but at the same time they bore the imprint of the pedagogical and literary personality of the publisher.

The publication of primers in Moscow was started by Vasily Burtsov-Protopopov. In 1634 he published a printed “Primer”. Its first edition sold out very quickly, and already in 1637 the book was republished. In the second edition, in addition to church texts, verses about the goals and methods of teaching were placed. Burtsov’s “Primer” or “ABC” is also interesting because it is the first in a Russian printed book of the 17th century. an engraving of secular content was placed - a frontispiece, which depicts a scene of punishment of a guilty student.

In the middle of the 17th century. The demand for printed primers has increased markedly. They were often reprinted in large editions for their time. One of the most interesting primers of the 17th century. - “A Primer of Slovenian-Russian Letters” by Karion Istomin. It was the first to use the method of memorizing letters using pictures. The primer was published for Alexei, the son of Peter I. The entire text was engraved on copper in 1694 by Leonty Bunin. Karion Istomin also owns another remarkable primer, printed in 1696 using the usual typographic method.

In 1648, the first Moscow edition of “Slavic Grammar” by Melegy Smotritsky was published. The Moscow edition was supplemented with excerpts from the works of Maxim the Greek and examples of grammatical analysis of sentences. For its time, it was a serious scientific work, which was used until the 18th century. “Slavic Grammar” is one of seven secular books published in Moscow in the 17th century. Among them is “The Doctrine of the Cunning of the Military Formation of Infantry Men” - a translation of the German manual on military affairs by Walhausen. A large format book with 35 copper engravings and a continuous engraved title page based on a drawing by Grigory Blagushin. Printed in 1647. The engravings in it were made by special order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Holland.

In 1649, the first printed edition of the code of Russian laws, “The Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The development of trade and the strengthening of the influence of the merchants caused the appearance of such special books as “Certificate of Customs Duties” (1654), “Convenient Calculation (1682), intended for people “buying and selling.” In 1699, the last secular printed book of the 17th century was published in Moscow. - “The doctrine of the structure of foot regiments.”