KNYGOS ISTORIJOS POPULIARINIMAS ESTIJOS VADOVĖLIUOSE IR PERIODINĖJE SPAUDOJE (XIX A.–1917 M.) (ANGLŲ K.)

The academic research on book history in Estonia started in the 1920s when the conditions of an independent state made it possible to develop national science on a full scale. Prior to the emergence of scholarly studies, Estonian intellectuals used to concentrate on the popularisation of sciences. The article deals with the communication of popular knowledge on book history in the Estonian language during the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century (until 1917). The sample includes textbooks and articles in the periodical press. No separate books on this topic were issued during the period under study. In order to establish the representation of book-historical topics in Estonian textbooks and periodical publications, the study employs the bibliometric approach and thematic analysis. The latter is based on the model elaborated by T. R. Adams and N. Barker. Among textbooks, readers and special history textbooks were chosen for the study. The sample of periodical press includes all the news and articles on the topic in all the Estonian-language newspapers and magazines identified on the basis of the card catalogue of the Archive Library of the Estonian Literary Museum. The results of the study demonstrate that one third of the readers issued during the period under study and nearly all history textbooks included pieces of reading on book and printing history. The first treatments of the topic in periodicals were issued in the 1820s. However, the more regular communication of the topic started in the 1880s. The press gave preference to the Estonian book history and the history of writing. Thus, the treatment of the topics helped to shape the national consciousness of Estonian people, enlightening the origins and development of the national book culture.


INTRODUCTION
The Estonian historians of science have argued that building of the national science in Estonia started only after the country became independent in 1918. This enabled to reopen the Tartu University as a national university in 1919, where the Estonian language was used for instruction (fully since the 1930s) and for writing scholarly texts. In the independent state. preference was given to the research of local topics, giving rise to the development of humanities [27]. The emergence of the Estonian book science as an independent field of study also dates back to the 1920s when the treatment of the book started to secede from literary or cultural history [10,80].
The emergence of full-scale national science and the publication of its results in the Estonian language in the 1920s was preceeded by the preparatory period. The turn of the 19 th and 20 th centuries had brought forth the shift, in the course of which Estonians became practitioners of science instead of being merely objects of scientific research [26]. The national societies, established in the late 19 th and early 20 th century aimed, among other goals, at the development of sciences and introducing their results to the people. Thus, popularisation became the main output of the scientific work in Estonian. The developing national elite felt an obligation to explain and interpret the knowledge of the rest of the world [28]. Beside the periodical press, the sciences were popularised through an increasing number of special books. The public was attracted by neologistical ideas of Johannes Aavik, suggesting the innovation of the Estonian language, as well as by books on Estonian, Russian or foreign history. At the same time, no separate publications, neither scholarly nor popularising issued in the 19 th and in the beginning of the 20 th century treated book history.
In order to establish the representation of book history in the Estonian-language publications of the 19 th century and of the beginning of the 20 th century (until 1918), attention could be concentrated on textbooks and periodical publications. The textbooks of the period served as a source of knowledge for both children and adults. They were issued in large print runs and owned by nearly all families, being among the most widespread types of publications after religious books and calendars [10,11]. The Estonian-language nationally-minded newspapers and journals, in their turn, were valued not only for mediating the news, but also for the instructive materials and popular-science articles.
The goal of the present article is to present the treatment of book history in Estonian-language textbooks and periodicals, searching answers to the following research questions: à When were the first stories on book history published in textbooks and periodicals? à How often were these topics treated?
Were there any periods when the number of articles was relatively higher? Was there any newspaper that took special interest in book historical topics, issuing more articles than the rest of the publications? à What was the content of the selected pieces for reading in textbooks and of articles in periodicals? What was the geographical and chronological range of the treatment? Who were the notable figures of book history, presented in the texts? à Who were the authors of the texts on book history? Was there any author who was more productive in writing on book history than the others? Were there any translations of the texts by identified foreign authors?
Prior to the regular publication of Estonian-language newspapers and journals, which started in the second half of the 19 th century, an important role in informing and educating the readers belonged to calendars. Their popularity continued throughout the period. The supplements of calendars included practical instructions, popularscience stories, and fiction. Still, calendars are not included in the sample of this study. The number of different calendars issued since the beginning of the 18 th century is large; for example, 799 calendars were issued in 1901-1917 [11, 12]. Some of them were published for decades, the others survived only a couple of issues. Despite their large print runs and wide distribution, only a few calendars are extant, and their full sets are rare [10, 120]. Their content and role in the Estonian book history also differ greatly. After the emergence of regular Estonian-language periodical press in the second half of the 19 th century, their importance and role in communicating enlightening texts and belles-lettres decreased [4,5]. The content of the calendars issued in 1720-1860 has been studied in detail by Endel Annus [4] whose work includes a description of the 1855 edition of the Eesti Ma-rahwa Kalender (Estonian Peasants' Calender) issued and printed by the heirs of Lindfors. This annual volume includes a story on the process of printing, complemented with a short overview of the invention of printing written by Carl Körber [4,90]. The development of the Estonian book science in the years 1918-1944 as well as the research on this period in the second half of the 20 th century have been analysed by Tiiu Reimo and Aile Möldre [43]. The article also mentions the first usage of the term "history of a book" by the linguist Johannes Aavik in his speech in 1913.
The treatment of the topics related to the book, reading and libraries in the periodical press in 1918-1944 has been presented in the diploma paper by Katrin Gottlob, including also the bibliography of related articles [14].
The history of textbooks has been tackled by book historians and historians of pedagogy. The most comprehensive work on the Estonian book history is the collective monograph Eesti raamat 1525-1975 published in 1978 [10]. It enables to follow the development of textbook-publishing in Estonia through centuries. A fundamental source on the development of education in Estonia is the collective monograph Eesti kooli ajalugu (The History of the Estonian Schools). The first two volumes cover the period from the 13th century to 1917 [8; 9]. The monograph briefly charaterises the textbooks that were in use in the period under study. The development of history textbooks has been treated in more detail in the article by Mare Oja [48].
The history of newspapers and journalism has been presented most comprehenisvely in the monograph Eesti ajakirjanduse teed ja ristteed (The Paths and Crossroads of Estonian Journalism) treating its development from the 17 th till the 20 th century [7]. The periodical press of the first half of the 20 th century has been analysed in more detail in the collection of articles compiled by Epp Lauk [46]. The monograph by Krista Aru focuses on the personalities of three editors (K. A. Hermann, J. Tõnisson, and K. Toom) who were active at the end of the 19 th and in the beginning of the 20 th century [6]. The first two of them were editors of the newspaper Postimees (The Postman) -one of the periodicals that published articles on book history.
In the German-language literature, the treatment of the book history of the Baltic provinces, including Estonia, had started much earlier. Various publications on the development of printing, publishing, and book distribution in this area as well as reference books including the persons who participated in these activities were issued since the 18 th century. Some texts were issued in the German-language proceedings of the Learned Estonian Society (established in 1838) Vehandlungen der Gelehrten Estnischen Gesellschaft. For example, the Estonian parson and historian Villem Reiman issued here the texts of Estonian-language sermons by Georg Müller, complementing them with a historical introduction [44]. The Baltic German historian and archivist Arnold Feuereisen published his study on M. G. Grenzius, a printer in Tartu in the turn of the 18 th and 19 th centuries, which was later issued as a separate book [13]. A. Feuereisen was also the author of the study on the beginnings of printing in Tartu as a separate brochure [12]. Although the research in this field could not be characterised as abundant, the above-mentioned Germanlanguage studies are only some examples of the German-language historiography on book history. The Estonian intellectuals, alongside with the Baltic German researchers, presented the results of their studies in the German-language publications.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
Theoretically, the analysis is based on the model for the study of the history of books as presented by Thomas R. Adams and Nicolas Barker. It involves five events in the life of a book: publishing, manufacturing, distribution, reception, and survival, whose sequence constitutes a system of communication [3,52]. These events take place under the influence of various intellectual, political, legal, social, and commercial factors forming a certain socio-economic conjuncture.
The first category -publishing -includes four parties: author, patron, manufacturer, and distributor whose decisions about the creation, communication, profit, and preservation define the future of the text written by the author. It starts with the decision whether or not to publish the book moving to promotion, advertising, and establishing the print run [3,53].
Manufacturing deals with the technology of printing, involving the activities of printers, papermakers, binders, and the issues of the development of printing presses, the techniques of binding, illustration, type design and typographical layout, manufacture of paper and ink [3,[54][55][56].
The next event -titled distributionincludes buying or borrowing books mediated by booksellers, shippers or librarians. The study of reception aims at establishing the impact the book has had, based on direct documentation in published and private responses as well as on indirect evidence (popularity, influence, use). The survival of books passes through three stages starting from its creation and initial reception, moving to rest without (intensive) use, followed by (possible) turning into an object of collection or research [3,[56][57][58][59][60][61].
These five events in the life of a book, their participants and components serve as the basis for establishing the relevant units of analysis and their coding. The study focuses on the texts on the history of publishing, manufacturing, and distribution of the books.
The sample of textbooks chosen for the study includes readers and history textbooks published during the 19 th century and in the early 20 th century (until 1918) -the two types that could include stories on book historical topics. The publication of Estonian-language textbooks in the direct meaning of the concept started in the 19th century. Prior to that, only spellingbooks, which were often combined with the catechism, were issued for Estonian children. The readers were intended for children who were already able to read, and included belles-lettres, pieces of reading on nature and history, serving as general textbooks. Special subject textbooks were published since 1806. Their more intensive publication, however, started in the 1860s. The first history textbook, which occupied the last two volumes of the 8-volume subject textbook package for parish schools by Georg Schwartz, was published in 1858 [10, [79][80]. This event signifies the beginning of history teaching in the Estonian folk schools. Still, the first textbooks preceded the teaching of history as a separate subject which was introduced in accordance with the new school regulations in Livonia in 1874 and in Estonia in 1878 [48,204].
The sample of readers and history textbooks has been identified with the help of the Estonian national bibliography database ERB (http://erb.nlib.ee/), the online catalogue ESTER (http://ester.nlib.ee/ search/) which is the union catalogue of the Consortium of Estonian Libraries Network, and on the basis of relevant research [48]. In order to establish whether the textbook includes pieces of reading on book history, all units in the sample were studied de visu (either in the digital archive DIGAR (http:// digar.nlib.ee/digar/) or by browsing the paper copies in the Academic Library of the Tallinn University or the National Library of Estonia.
The second sample of the study comprised articles on the issues connected with book history in the Estonian-language newspapers and journals issued during the 19 th century and in the beginning of the 20th century (until 1918). Although the first attempts to issue an Estonian-language newspaper date back to the 18 th century, the more consistent publishing of periodicals started in 1821 with establishing the newspaper The articles treating book history were identified on the basis of the analytic card catalogue of the Archival Library of the Estonian Literary Museum. The catalogue used for this study is arranged according to the UDC and covers the content of periodical press issued in 1821-1918.
In addition to the bibliographic description of the articles, the cards include annotations which make it possible to establish the relevance of the text for the purpose of the study.
The analysis of the data gathered during the search process combined the bibliometric approach which enabled to quantify the results and thematic analysis. The bibliographic description of the textbooks and relevant articles was entered in Excel tables. In the case of textbooks, the data included the author, title, the place of publication, publisher, year of issue, titles of the stories treating the issues connected with book history, and the codes attributed to them during thematic analysis. The table on articles involved the author, title of the article, title of the publication, date, and the codes.
In the course of bibliometric analysis, the quantity of publications, including book historical pieces or articles issued during different periods, the most prolific authors as well as periodicals, giving more attention to book history were established. The thematic analysis was driven by the model of book history by Adams and Barker, i.e. using the deductive coding [22]. The themes refer to manifest content of the articles. The larger themes deducted from the model were divided into more specific subthemes including geographical and chronological aspects. For example, articles were coded as those treating general book history, book history in Russia, book history in Estonia, different periods of book history. The theme "general book history" includes writings on publishing and manufacturingthe invention of printing by Johannes Gutenberg, the further development of printing machines, and the distribution of printing. Texts in this category could also involve the history of handwritten books. The event called manufacturing by T. R. Adams and N. Barker was divided into the history of printing and the history of papermaking. An article or a series of articles in periodicals and a piece of reading in textbooks served as a unit of analysis. An article could include more than one theme, treating, for example, both general and Estonian book history, although the majority of the texts tackle one dominant topic. The more frequent themes are explored and described in more depth than the topics discussed in one or two short articles.

THE BOOK AND ITS HISTORY IN ESTONIAN TEXTBOOKS
The most numerous type of textbooks of that period was readers (reading books), including literary pieces and short texts on various topics (nature, geography, history) used in folk schools. The general number of reading books issued in the second half of the 19 th century and in the beginning of the 20 th century was 23, 12 of which were first issued in the second half of the 19 th century and 11 in 1900-1914. Eight reading books include pieces on books and their manufacturing.
The first textbook that contained three stories on the topic was the first volume of the reader Kooli Lugemise raamat (The School Reading Book) by Carl Robert Jakobson, issued in 1867. Carl Robert Jakobson (1841-1882) was a writer, politician, teacher, and journalist. He headed the radical wing of the national movement, formulating its economic and political programme, demanding equal political rights for Germans and Estonians. He was the founder of the newspaper Sakala (1878) which had the widest circulation among Estonian-language newspapers of that time. Jakobson actually initiated revolutionary changes in the development of textbooks, offering worldly, secular knowledge instead of the limited religious education, treating the topics from the standpoint of an Estonian child. The above-mentioned reader was the first in the series of textbooks mediating this new conception. The first part of the reader enjoyed extraordinary popularity -it was used in village schools for 40 years and reissued 15 times (until 1906) in 199 000 copies [9,154]. The reader includes pieces of reading on a wide range of subjects, among them the stories titled "The Books", "The Art of Book Printing" and "Paper". The text on books points out their value and importance, encouraging every Estonian to purchase at least the Bible and the national epic Kalevipoeg, characterised as the primary and the dearest texts. The piece on printing includes the basic facts of its history -the role and fate of Gutenberg, mentioning also the erection of his monument in Mainz in 1836. Although the textbook is otherwise richly illustrated, the pieces on book and printing have no illustrations. Instead, Jakobson recommends that children should go to a printing office while visiting a town, buy a book and follow the printing process as this would give them the best understanding of the matter. The importance of Gutenberg's invention is illustrated by the example that before printing one copy of the Bible cost 500-600 roubles, i.e. it was very expensive [21, 143-145].
A comparison of the cost of handwritten and printed books was used in many reading books. For example, the reader written and issued by Ado Grenzstein in 1887 includes a short piece of reading about books, presenting an even higher price of a handwritten Bible -600-700 roubles, remarking that at that time (in 1887) a nice Bible could be bought for 60-70 kopecks (being thus a thousand times cheaper) [15,7].
Four readers contain pieces of reading on the history of paper-making, while Mihkel Kampmann's reader (1905) also includes a photo of a paper-mill [29,133]. This was practically the only reader to present topical illustrations: in addition to the picture of paper-making, it included Gutenberg's portrait. In general, many stories in the readers, however, were quite superficial, mainly stressing the importance of the book as a source of knowledge and encouraging children to read.
The number of history textbooks issued in 1858-1912 reaches 8 titles. In addition to these books, there were a couple of publications, initially not meant for schools, which were used as textbooks [45,[203][204][205]. One of them, Mailma aiaramat (The World Chronicle) by Carl Körber (1860), includes the treatment of Gutenberg as the inventor of the printing press, mentioning also the role of Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer [35, 133]. As mentioned above, C. Körber had also written a story on book printing for the calendar Eesti Ma-rahwa Kalender (1855).
The Estonian-language textbooks were issued until 1887 when the Russification reforms demanded that the instruction in folk schools (except the first two years) had to be carried out in the Russian language [9,331]. The new wave of the publication of history textbooks started after 1906 when it became possible to establish Estonianlanguage private secondary schools.
The book historical topics were treated in six history textbooks. The books on general history typically included the printing press among the most important inventions, describing Gutenberg's ideas and activities. The only special textbook on Estonian history, written by Otto Grossschmidt (1911), dedicates numerous pages to the history of the Estonian language and literature, entwining it with the most notable events in the history of books and journalism [16]. The textbook of the Russian history by Jakob Lindenberg (1872) includes the treatment of the development of Russianlanguage writing and the first books [38]. Thus, the majority of history textbooks (six out of eight titles) presented the most important events in book history, primarily the invention of the printing press. The third issue of the journal included a rather detailed article on the history of printing and papermaking. Kreutzwald presents the history of the invention of printing by Gutenberg and explains the processes of contemporary printing -composition, the preparation of matrices and printing with a high-speed printing press. Nearly all of the six pages include wood engravings illustrating the processes [32].
The publication was valued by contemporary intellectuals and had a notable impact on the development of the future leaders of the national movement. Still, the texts were rather complicated and remained distant for peasant readers. After five issues its publishing was stopped. In the course of time its popularity started to increase. The publication was used as a textbook in parish schools and was read till the beginning of the 20 th century. Laakmann also issued its translation into the Latvian language [54,5].
The new era in the Estonian journalism began in 1857 when Johann Voldemar Jannsen (1819-1890) founded the newspaper Perno Postimees (The Postman of Pärnu). This event was interpreted as the starting point of the national awakening, which brought along the publication of many other newspapers with different ideological stands. The number of newspapers increased gradually: 25 Estonian-language periodicals with their supplements were issued in 1887 [5,103]. The largest number of periodical publications during the period under study was issued in the end of 1906 when the revolution of 1905 had increased the political activity and alleviated censorship. Then the number reached 100 titles [5,109]. Many of these periodicals, however, were issued only for a short time.
The number of articles devoted to book history in the periodicals in 1857-1917 reaches 41 units in 20 publications. Only eight texts treated general book history, the invention of printing by Gutenberg. One of the more thorough articles issued during the second half of the 19 th century and the beginning of the 20 th century was written by Karl August Hermann (1851-1909). Hermann was a multi-talented person -linguist, composer, writer, journalist, and publisher. Among other things, Hermann started to publish the newspaper Postimees (The Postman) in Tartu in 1886; it became the first Estonian-language daily in 1891. The newspaper was printed in his own printing office. He published an article on printing history in Postimees in the first year of its issue, pointing out the special importance of printing houses owned by Estonians, including his own enterprise, but the text also gives a relatively detailed overview of the invention of printing. Although concentrating on Gutenberg, the text also tackles the Chinese and Dutch claims to the invention of printing [18]. Hermann's printing office was in fact only the third enterprise that belonged to an Estonian owner at that time, following the printing offices established by A. Grenzstein and J. Herms (actually owned by Jaak Järv) [6,56].
The majority of articles on general book history focused on the role of Gutenberg. Among the texts presenting a wider treatment of the development of printing there is a series of articles in the newspaper Olevik (The Present) published in 1895. The story titled "The printing machine" was dedicated to the launch of a new printing machine in the printing office owned by the publisher and editor of the newspaper Ado Grenzstein (1849-1916) who was one of the most controversial figures in the period of national awakening. His newspaper Olevik, established in 1882, represented the politically moderate wing of the movement and was first valued as a well-edited and comprehensive publication. After the turn to Russification in the 1880s, Grenzstein started to publish articles criticising the national aspirations and supporting Russification reforms. For a long time the Estonian historical discourse treated him one-sidedly as a negative figure, but lately some historians have initiated the reassessment of his activities [60]. By the way, Grenzstein introduced the word kirjastaja and kirjastamine (publisher and publishing) into the Estonian language in the same newspaper in 1884, which replaced the phrase oma kulu ja kirjadega trükkima (to print at one's own expense). The series of articles in Olevik moves from the Chinese printing technique and Gutenberg's printing press to a more detailed description of a steam press, presenting the biography of Friedrich Koenig and the development of his invention [58]. The anonymous text could be written by Grenzstein himself, although the authorship of the article has not yet been established.
The supplement to the newspaper Virmaline (Northern Light) issued a short news story about the speech on the history of paper by the Austrian scholar Joseph von Karabacel in 1890. Here again, the role of China in printing and the contribution of Arabs to introducing papermaking in Europe are mentioned. The anonymous author of the text notes, not without malicious joy, that it had not been the Germans who had invented paper or printing. The Germans had not even invented gun-powder as they had been arguing [51]. These comments reflect the contemporary political opposition between Estonians and Baltic Germans, which sometimes entered the field of book history.
The treatment of Estonian book history was slightly more frequent than writing about the general development of the book and printing. These 12 texts were published in different newspapers in 1881-1901. One third of the articles (4) were published in the newspaper Postimees. The greatest number of texts (4) dealt with the initial period of the Estonian-language publications in the 16 th century. For example, the newspaper Eesti Postimees (The Estonian Postman) mediated the news from the German-language newspaper Revaler Beobachter in 1882 that the oldest Estonian-language publication is probably not the catechism translated by Franz Witte, allegedly printed in Lübeck in 1553, but the catholic catechism issued on the initiative of bishop Johannes Kievel in 1517. The short news story includes regrets that Revaler Beobachter did not bring the source of this information [34]. The later research has not been able to find any solid evidence concerning the printing of this catechism, although indirect data suggest it.
The above-mentioned Lübeck publication was also treated by Jaan Jung (1835Jung ( -1900 who, in addition to working as a village schoolmaster, acted as an amateur historian and archaeologist [23]. According to the researcher Ants Viires, Jung's text from 1882 was probably based on the biographies from the reference book Allgemeines Schriftsteller-und Gelehrtenlexikon der Provinzen Livland, Ehstland und Kurland by Johann Friedrich von Recke and Karl Eduard Napiersky [61,142]. The source, however, was not indicated in the writing, which was quite a typical practice of the period.
Another topic that attracted the attention of the press was the establishment of the first printing office in Tallinn in 1633 when the Tallinn Gymnasium made a contract with Christoff Reusner, a printer from Stockholm. Three newspapers dedicated short news stories to this event in 1883 in connection with its 250 th anniversary.
A couple of articles were dedicated to Heinrich Stahl and his Hand und Hauszbuch... (Hand and House Book in four volumes, 1632-1638). At that time, this manual for parsons was considered to be the oldest printed book including a text in Estonian, which had been preserved in its entirety and thus available for study. Stahl was a Baltic-German parson who laid the foundation of the old orthography of the Against the background of the prevalent interest in the history of the 16 th and 17 th centuries, the article on book-selling in Estonia during the first half of the 19 th century is quite exceptional. The article in Postimees described the role of the Learned Estonian Society in organising the distribution of Estonian-language books, but the main subject of the anonymous article was the selling of these books in Võru by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald in 1839-1864 [30].
The book history of Russia is the topic of one article devoted to the centennial of the regulation giving permission to establish printing offices in a similar way as other enterprises. The article briefly names the printers active in Petersburg by special permits prior to this legal act [1].
Compared to the history of book and printing, the press devoted more space to the history of writing, treated in 20 articles published in 1888-1914, whereas the larger part of the articles (12) were published early in the 20 th century. Alongside the articles about the ancient Egyptian or Chinese writing systems, materials or pencils, three series of articles were devoted to the origin of the Estonian language and writing.
Karl August Hermann, already mentioned above, issued his research work "The Sumerians-Akkadians" in his newspaper Postimees [18] and as a separate brochure (1896, 1908) [19]. His treatment of cuneif-orm script compared the Sumerian language with Estonian. This theory was influenced by the idea of Finnish historians about the relation of the Finno-Ugrian languages to Sumerian. Hermann had published the texts by Yrjö Sakari Yrjö-Koskinen and Väino Kaarle Wallin a couple of years earlier (in 1894), which were translated by the journalist and amateur historian Hindrik Prants [56]. For a small nation in search of its identity, there could not have been better news than descending from one of the oldest languages in the world. Still, Hermann's ideas did not have a wide impact in Estonia and were considered pseudoscience in the later years [33,77] The most comprehensive and wideranging presentation of the history of the book during this period can be found in the speech by Johannes Aavik, held at the opening of the Tartu Library Society and published in the collection of articles Public Education Outside the Schools (1913), which was devoted to the issues of librarianship [2]. It was published by the Department of the Organisation of Libraries of the Noor-Eesti (Young Estonia) society, an influential literary and cultural movement of the period. The society took interest in the modernisation of the Estonian language. The central figure of this innovation was Johannes Aavik, the leading Estonian philologist of the period. Aavik had obtained his doctorate in romance languages at the University of Helsinki. He felt the responsibility to upgrade the Estonian language to the level of old European languages and devoted himself to intensive neology. In the above-mentioned text, he used the notion "the history of book" for the first time in the Estonian language, outlining its object as the history of writing, paper, printing, and binding, pointing out its relation to people, to social history. The paper presents a description of the general history of these elements, based on the works by French and German authors (A. Cim, E. Morel, O. Weise, A. W. Unger) who were indicated in the end of the presentation. While the German sources are to be expected in the cultural space where Estonia belonged, the orientation to French scholars was probably due to a special interest of the members of Noor-Eesti in French culture. The Estonian developments were not tackled in this text.
To sum up the study of publications in the periodicals during the second half of the 19 th century and the beginning of the 20 th century, it could be said that after a slight increase in the 1890s, the number of articles remained stable in the following decades (9 articles in the 1880s, 14 in the 1890s, 14 articles in 1900-1909). The next decade, the time of war and revolutions, led to a decrease in their number which was limited to four articles (published in 1910-1914). In connection with the beginning of the First World War, the treatment of art, literature, education, and farming vanished from news-papers, being replaced by political topics and news from the front [5,112).
The articles were scattered in numerous newspapers (15 titles) and in some magazines (5 titles). As mentioned above, the number of different titles of periodicals was much higher. For example, around 60-70 periodical titles were published in 1908-1914 [5,110], but only 7 newspapers and magazines wrote about book history. Nevertheless, the most stable publications, which had been published for many years (Postimees, Olevik, Eesti Postimees, Perno Postimees, and Wirmaline) included stories on this topic. Articles on book history, published in periodicals during the period, were mostly limited to one or two units. The most active interest in book history was demonstrated by the newspaper Postimees which was already characterised as the most active publisher of articles on Estonian book history. However, the thematic range of the articles was wider, including also texts on the general history of book and writing. The paper and its supplement issued altogether nine articles on the history of the book and writing. Hermann's Postimees wrote a lot about literature, music, the Estonian language, encouraging the Estonian national spirit, the public demonstration of which was forbidden during the years of Russification reforms [5,99]. Hermann sold the newspaper in 1896, but the attention to the topic continued also under the new editor Jaan Tõnisson, a prominent journalist and politician.
Another publication devoting more attention to the topic in question was the magazine Linda (issued in 1887-1905). By the turn of the 19 th and 20 th centuries, the magazine, established as a publication for women, had transformed into a literary all-family magazine. Since 1898, it was owned by Anton Jürgenstein who increased the share of articles on cultural history and sciences [5,103].
The publishing practice of the period is characterised by the anonymity of many participants of the process: authors and translators often remain unknown or are identified merely by initials. Among the articles on book history, 25 texts are anonymous, and in case of 15 texts the author was identified clearly by name and in one case by initials. Nearly all the identified authors wrote only one text and K. A. Hermann two articles. The authors of texts propagating book history include many schoolteachers (Karl Põdder, Artur Jung, Andres Saal, Johan Tuul) and journalists (Kustas Kotsar). Some of the authors are known as amateur historians, for example, Willem Reiman, a parson who had graduated from the University of Tartu, and Jaan Jung, a schoolmaster and the first Estonian archaeologist. Schoolteachers were the leading force of the national movement, heading different societies, directing quires and orchestras, collecting folklore. They also formed the largest share of newspaper correspondents [9,185] contributing to one or more periodicals, writing their own original stories, adaptations or translations. The articles about the general development of printing or writing systems were evidently based on some sources, whether translated or Estonian, which, as a rule, had not been identified. Among the exceptions there are references to the ideas of Joseph von Karabacel and Knut Leonard Tallqvist, described above. In addition, Karl Põdder had indicated that his article on ancient writing systems was based on Ch. W. Magnus [51], and R. Koppel referred to Woloschinova as his source [31].

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The popular treatment of topics connected with book history in the Estonian language started in the first half of the 19 th century, but it became more regular since the second half of the 19 th century. This knowledge was communicated primarily through textbooks and periodical press at that time. Already the first regular Estonian-language newspaper Marahva Näddala-Leht, issued in the beginning of the 19 th century, tackled the invention of printing and the beginnings of the Estonian book history at considerable length. The circulation of the publication was quite small (250 copies), and the number of subscribers was limited to 51 in 1822. These modest figures could be explained by the negative attitude of the brotherhood congregations [37, 73-77; 4, 85]. The next, rather detailed, description of printing and papermaking processes was issued in the popular-science magazine Ma-ilm ja mõnda, mis seal sees leida on (1849), which was not very widespread at the time of publishing but became popular in the following decades.
In principle, the phenomenon of the book was not unknown to Estonians even in the first half of the 19 th century. The level of literacy was remarkably high already in the late 18 th century: in North Estonia 40%, in South Estonia 55%, and in Saaremaa Island 62% of the active population could read [25]. Research also demonstrates the presence of books at peasants' homes. The Estonian-language books were owned by schools, libraries, churches, and by peasants themselves. For example, according to the results of the book census of 1845, 61.8% of the families living in South Estonia owned either a Bible or a New Testament [50,896]. Folklore provides evidence of the respect that Estonians felt towards religious books which were considered to be sacred [49].
During the second half of the 19 th century, the school network expanded and the content of education improved due to the inclusion of new subjects. According to the census of 1897, 91.2% of the population of Estonia were literate [37,86]. The list of Estonian-language publications started increasing and became more diverse. The leaders of the national movement devoted special attention to creating nationallyminded publications which occupied the central role in the process of nation-building. These developments promoted the interest in reading. The improved economic situation enabled to obtain more books. More educated readers could also read books in German and Russian. The increase of the quantity and improvement of the quality of the Estonianlanguage book production continued intensively in the early 20 th century, during the speed-up of the modernisation processes. Estonian-language books occupied the sixth position by the number of titles after books issued in the Russian, Polish, Jewish, German, and Latvian languages in 1910 [37,90]. Thus, the background for introducing the history of the book to Estonian-language readers was rather favourable. The results of the present study demonstrate that the invention of printing and paper-making were introduced to Estonian readers more widely through the literature which was used in schools -readers, history textbooks, and popular-science publications, which were not specially meant for teaching, but were often used as textbooks. The best examples of them, like Kooli Lugemise raamat by C. R. Jakobson or Ma-ilm ja mõnda... by Fr. R. Kreutzwald, were in use for decades and mediated, among other things, the knowledge about books and their printing for many generations. In general, only a third of all the readers issued during the period under study mediated the basic facts of book history, whereas the topic was present in nearly all the history textbooks published in the second half of the 19 th and in the beginning of the 20 th century. This difference could be expected: in contrast to special textbooks, the aim of the readers was to provide pieces for reading on various topics.
The number of articles in periodical press over 60 years (1857-1917) was rather modest (41 news stories and articles). The periodicals took more interest in contemporary developments in the pub lishing, manufacturing and distributing books, bringing news about the foundation of new printing offices and book-shops as well as statistical data. The periodical press started to treat the book history more regularly since the 1880s when the peak of the national awakening was receding and the official policy turned to Russification. Russification had the strongest impact on education, journalism, and the activities of various cultural societies. The newspapers had to give up their ideologies and to focus on enlightening articles and general overviews [5,98].
The press provided the readers with much more detailed knowledge about both the Estonian and general book history than did the textbooks. The interest concentrated in the earlier period of Estonian book history and in the history of writing, including the ancient writing systems as well as the Estonian language and formation of letters. The treatment of these topics contributed to the shaping of Estonian national consciousness. In general, the publishing of news and articles was sporadic and scattered in different publications. Some publications (Postimees, Olevik, Linda) dealt with the issues of book history more regularly. K. A. Hermann and A. Grenzstein, owners of correspondingly Postimees and Olevik, were actively involved in the book business, writing, editing and publishing various publications, which were printed in their printing offices. This probably fostered their interest in the history of the field. A. Grenzstein included stories on the book and its history in his reader issued in 1887.
The activities of the Estonian national elite were often inspired by the neighbouring Finns. While no separate book on book history was issued in Estonia during the period, such publications can be found in the Finnish book production. Although many research works were published in the Swedish language, numerous texts on the book and its history were also issued in the Finnish language. On the basis of the bibliography of Finnish book history [55], there were several popular books and brochures tackling this topic, for example Kirjapainosta (On Printing) by Antti Jalava (1879), Kirjan synty (The Birth of a Book) by Arthur Wilhelm Unger (1911) (by the way, the same German author whose book from the series Aus Naturund Geisteswelt was used by Johannes Aavik in his presentation on book history discussed above), Kirja ja kirjapainotaito (The Book and Art of Printing) by Lauri Hendell-Anterinen (1912), etc. The English translation of the brochure Outlines of the History of Printing in Finland by Valfried Vasenius was issued in London in 1898, giving the knowledge on the book history of Finland even an international reach. There also existed special periodical publications dedicated to book and printing in the Finnish language, for example, the journal Suomen Kirjapainolehti (The Finnish Journal of Printing). Even this limited number of examples demonstrates that the treatment of book history was much wider and more developed, including both scholarly and popular texts. Although some works of Finnish historians were translated into Estonian during the period under study (including the book on Assyriology mentioned above), no special texts on book history were translated into the Estonian language.
To sum it up, the 19 th century and the beginning of the 20 th century familiarised the Estonian reading public with the basic knowledge about the history of manufacturing a book. The attention to the phenomenon of the book was important in the process of nation-building, where it played the central role. Many active members of the national movement, who were involved in journalism and publishing, wrote news and articles on book history in the textbooks and periodicals. None of them became a regular propagator or researcher of the topic; the Estonian-language scholarly research of book history followed in the Republic of Estonia in the 1920s and 1930s. Visavertis nacionalinis mokslas Estijoje iš esmės prasidėjo dvidešimtojo amžiaus trečiajame dešimtmetyje, susikūrus nepriklausomai Estijos valstybei. Iki to laiko intelektinis elitas daugiausia telkė dėmesį į mokslinių idėjų populiarinimą estų kalba. Tą patį galima pasakyti apie knygos istorijos tyrinėjimus, kurie irgi prasidėjo trečiajame dešimtmetyje.