Russian Historical Publishing, 1810–1820: the Forgotten Decade

Abstract

In the annals of Russian publishing history, the second decade of the nineteenth century normally appears sandwiched between the exuberant expansion of the first few years of Alexander Fs reign (1801-1825), and the momentous literary publications of the third decade; 1 it is usually lost in comparison. 2 And the period itself tends to be considered one of growing political reaction and increasing social stagnation. 3 Yet, insofar as the book world is concerned, progress is certainly to be detected. 4 Moreover, the decade witnessed some particularly striking developments in the area of historical publishing. It is felt useful, then, to review some of the most noteworthy achievements in that field, and to present them in the context of the broader publishing scene of the time.It is true that there were a number of factors inhibiting book production in those years. First and foremost were the economic stringencies imposed by the military policies of the Russian government from 1805 to 1815, during its involvement in the Napoleonic wars. Russian export turnover decreased from 127,873,000 rubles in the period 1801-1805 to 75,988,000 rubles in 1806-1808 as a result of the Continental Blockade. 5 Russia had a huge budget deficit in 1808, and people were complaining of the cost of living. Needless to say, the book trade was also affected and high prices slowed its growth from the early advances of the decade, so that although new book businesses continued to be established, book production in general was not impressive, and many of the books produced were not selling. The Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, a major institutional publisher, was sometimes obliged to hold sales of books by weight to reduce stocks, and at one such sale in 1808'a large portion was sold for four rubles, five kopecks per pound -including books on geography, technology and history; on this occasion the Petersburg bookseller I. P. Glazunov bought them up and used a number for pulp. 6 And in consequence of the growing lack of demand, the early expansion witnessed in private enterprise also slowed. Thus, the number of private presses in St.