Book publishing in Vyatka region in the early XX century

Abstract

The Russian government in the field of extracurricular education in the early XX century persuded certain goals: preserving the state foundations inviolability, spreading the Orthodoxy tenets, raising the people cultural level. These objectives were being realized through book publishing. The public policy conductors were the governor administration, Vyatka diocese. The local territorial self-government played a certain role. The article purpose is to consider the Russian state policy specifics on development of book publishing in the early XX century implemented in Vyatka region. The study objectives are: to identify ways and methods of implementing the government policy on adult education in the specified field of activity; to show the role of local and territorial self-government and Vyatka diocese in developing the regional book publishing. The author uses historical-typological and historical-systematic methods; a historical-genetic technique is applied to identify the dynamics and historical perspective of Vyatka territorial self-government power and bodies activities in the printing field. An aggregative method makes it possible to collect the scattered facts and make a complete judgment on the studied subject. From the author’s viewpoint, cultural-historical and anthropological approaches allow highlighting the main policy objective of the Russian empire government on book publishing development in the early XX century, realized by Vyatka provincial authorities and local self-government bodies, which was to increase the population spiritual culture level. According to the census of 1897, only 21% of the population was literate, while the literacy rate for men in 1913 grew to 40%. By the beginning of 1913 the number of literate peasants in Vyatka province reached nearly 667 000 people. The Vyatka governor administration, the police sought to control colporteurs-ofens’ work. The aboriginal translation сommission has functioned in the province. A major role in organizating the book trade in Vyatka region played a warehouse created by the provincial zemstvo in 1894. In 1913 the provincial government agreed to its abolition. In the 1970s Vyatka provincial zemstvo undertook publishing activity. The local territorial self-government and Vyatka diocese showed themselves the most active in the sphere of people extracurricular education and book business in Vyatka province in the early XX century. The protective function dominated in Vyatka government activities.