17th century printing press description. Bookmaking in Russia in the 17th century

typography woodcut art graphic

On March 1, 1564, by the command of Ivan the Terrible and the blessing of Metropolitan Macarius of All Rus', the first accurately dated book “Apostle” was published in Rus'. The book was created in the printing house of Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets, who went down in history as the first Russian printers. The choice of “Apostle” for the first edition of the state printing house was not accidental: “Apostle” in Ancient Rus' used for training clergy. It contains the first examples of the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures by the disciples of Christ. The first dated book, printed by Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets, became the model for subsequent editions. Work on the "Apostle" was carried out over the course of a year from April 19, 1563 to March 1, 1564. For printing it was necessary to cast fonts and make equipment. The preparation of the text of the “Apostle” also took a long time. It was edited with the participation of Metropolitan Macarius.

The first printed Apostle is distinguished by the highest editorial culture. There are no spelling errors, erasures or typos found in it. Researchers continue to be amazed by the highly artistic engravings, filigree font designs, original headpieces and excellent quality of two-color printing. Ivan Fedorov himself cut and cast letters, engraved drawings and headpieces, edited and typed the text, and printed the entire “factory” - about 1,200 books. Several earlier Moscow editions are known, but they do not contain imprints and are referred to as “anonymous.” In the printing sense, “Apostle” by Ivan Fedorov was executed at a higher professional level.

PRINTED BOOK IN THE 17TH CENTURY

In Muscovite Rus' in the 17th century. A very peculiar phenomenon took place: book printing was not officially prohibited here, but was monopolized by the state, which arrogated to itself the right to be the only printer in the country. All Moscow book printers were in the tsar's service. Until the end of the 17th century. book printing in Muscovite Rus' was carried out at four points: in Moscow, in Alexandrova Sloboda (16th century), in Nizhny Novgorod and in the Iversky Monastery. First decade of the 17th century. was a direct continuation of the 16th century; three “huts” worked at the Moscow Printing Yard. Andronik Timofeev Nevezha continued his activities; after his death (c. 1603), his son, Ivan Andronikov Nevezhin, became the head of the business. During 1601--1611. The Nevezhins published 10 editions: Book of Hours, Service Book, Psalter, Lenten and Colored Triodion, Apostle and Menaion for September - December.

In the second “hut”, organized in 1605, the master was a man of versatile abilities, Anisim Mikhailov Radishevsky. He came from Volyn, perhaps he studied typographical craft from Ivan Fedorov. In 1586, Anisim Mikhailov moved to Moscow and began working at the Printing Yard as a “printed book binder.” Having organized his “hut”, Radishevsky in 1606-1610. published an excellently designed Four Gospels and a large volume (1266 pages) of the Church Charter.

The master of the third “hut” was Nikita Fedorov-Fofanov, who issued the general Menaion in 1609. In 1611, during the Polish-Swedish intervention, as the “Tale is known about the imagination of books of the printing business” tells us, “the printing house and the entire standard of that printing business were ruined by those enemies and the adversary was quickly burned by fire.” Fofanov took his “hut” to Nizhny Novgorod. Here in 1613 he printed a notebook of 6 sheets (12 pages) - the so-called Nizhny Novgorod monument, found and published by A. S. Zernova. IN next year The printing house from Nizhny Novgorod was moved to Moscow, and Nikita Fofanov began printing the Psalter on June 5, 1614, which was published on January 6, 1615. From that time on, printing in Moscow proceeded uninterruptedly.

In 1612, for the Boyar Duma, an “estimate of how much two printing stands would cost to make two mills for the Fresco business” was drawn up, a document containing a list of printing equipment. By 1620, the printing house was rebuilt in its old location, on Nikolskaya Street. Here they built a large stone chamber near the city wall, and several wooden mansions. The masters with their “pants” gradually moved to the newly built Printing Yard.

The most important event in the history of Russian book printing is the replacement of the craft printing workshop with a manufacturing-type enterprise. The old printers were generalists. They cut punches, poured type, engraved forms for illustrations and ornaments, they could type the text themselves, press it, and sometimes they themselves bound finished books. Elements of the division of labor are contained in the estimate of 1612. Along with the craftsman, a wordsmith, a bannerman (artist), a chisel (engraver), a carpenter and a blacksmith are mentioned. There are no typesetters or printers in this estimate. Documents of the 20s indicate an increase in the division of labor: for each camp, except for the master, there were 2 typesetters, 4 printers - “teredor workers” and 5 “baty workers” who applied paint to the form. A few years later, one of the warriors was assigned to disassemble the used set. Born new specialty- "disassembler".

In the 17th century, several fonts, or “alphabet”, were used at the Moscow Printing Yard, which bore the names of the masters who made them. Nikita Fofanov cast the alphabet, which was called “Nikitinskaya”; in 1687 it was renewed by the Ukrainian Slovolitsky Arseniy and received the name “Arsenievskaya”. The “Osipovsky” font was named after its master Osip Kirillov. Master Kondrat Ivanov made the punches and matrices of the “large gospel” font. The “alphabet” was cast by wordsmith Ivan Silnoy. It was first used in the Four Gospels in 1627. This is the main font of Moscow in the 17th century.

The main printing equipment of the Moscow Printing Yard were manual printing presses. They were made in the yard itself - in the “carpentry”. In the State historical museum Only a precision-made model of the printing press has been preserved. The basis was two oak tables with horizontal crossbars. On the crossbars there was attached a “pressure tackle”, a vertical metal rod, “pras”, with a screw thread and a pointed lower end - a “soldering pen”, which transmitted pressure to the pressure plate - a “piyam”. "Pras" was turned using a handle - "cookie". To lift the "piyam" during the reverse movement of the "kuki" on the "pras", a hollow metal cube is provided - a "nut", secured by a disk - a "torrel". The “piam” was tied to the ears of the “nut” with ropes. The “nut” itself moved up and down in a square groove in the middle crossbar of the printing press. The printing form was placed in an “ark” - a wooden box mounted on a sliding board. Suspended from the “ark” was a “tympanum” - a metal frame covered with leather. A blank sheet of paper was placed here before printing. To protect the margins of the sheet, a “frashket” was used - a frame cut out of parchment and mounted on a metal base. For applying paint to printed form"matrices" were used - leather pillows with wooden handles. Pillows were stuffed with horsehair. Before printing, sheets of paper were moistened by placing them on a damp canvas. The prints were dried by hanging them on ropes.

Books known to us from the 17th century. According to content, they fall into three groups. The first includes liturgical, church service, or religious books. These publications represent a separate group in design. An invariable feature of church service books is two-color printing, black and red; two-color printing technology in Moscow in the 17th century. remains the same, Fedorov's. The second group consists of books intended for pious reading and study outside the church; the third group - books with completely non-religious content.

ABCs for the last two thirds of the 17th century. Eight editions were printed, none in the first third, since the main book used to teach literacy was the Psalter. Contents of Moscow primers of the 17th century. goes back to the primers of the Vilna and Lviv press.

Life at the Moscow Printing Yard was full of passions, intolerance gave rise to common mistakes, misunderstandings that caused slander and slander, ending in accusations of heresy and persecution. Editing books in the 17th century. It was by no means a safe matter. The more they wanted to be true believers, the more fatally they became mired in errors. It often happened that they gave a blessing for the publication of a book, and after some time they condemned it as unfaithful, began to redo it by replacing leaves, or reprinted it entirely.

The politics of book publishing in Moscow in the 17th century. was determined, naturally, not only by the church, but also by the secular state power, the government of a certain reign. In 1645, after the death of Tsar Michael, two lines began to emerge. The first, church line was carried out by Patriarch Joseph, the representative of the second line was the young Tsar Alexei and his entourage; The result was an expansion of the topics of published books. In total, in the 17th century. seven books of completely secular content were published in Moscow; three were published in the young years of Tsar Alexei. With their publication, book printing was for the first time put at the service of basic state needs: in the afterwords to books of a secular nature, there is no mention of the “blessing” of the patriarch; in the book of monk Smotritsky it is given. Naturally, the first concern of a state surrounded on all sides by aggressive neighbors was concern for military defense. When fighting Western armies, one had to keep up with Western military science. In order not to be left behind, Walhausen’s German book was translated under the title “The Teaching and Cunning of the Military Formation of Infantry Men” and published in the most urgent manner (from June 1 to August 26, 1647). The release of the publication was delayed due to the fact that the printing of the tables engraved on copper had to be done in Holland, since intaglio printing technology had not yet been mastered in Moscow. The publication was published in 1649 with a special title page, engraved in Holland on copper according to a drawing by Grigory Blagushin.

The line of development of old Moscow printing is determined by two points: at the first point, at the end of the 16th century, it serves mainly the purpose of reproducing liturgical texts; in the second, at the end of the 17th century, it begins to free itself from this exclusivity and stands on the threshold of becoming a bearer of general cultural and scientific values. The interest of the history of Moscow book printing lies in the process of its gradual departure from the original church impulse, in the process of its secularization, secularization, emancipation from the bonds of theocratic churchism. This process is part of the general cultural development of Russian society, but in printed monuments it is especially evident.

General characteristics of the book industry in the 17th century.

Internal and external situation in the country in the first decades of the 17th century. was not conducive to the development of book publishing. Changes in socio-economic relations in the Moscow state of the 16th century. led to increased feudal oppression, a deterioration in the position of the masses and, as a consequence, to an intensification of the class struggle. The class struggle was also reflected in the largest religious movement in Russia in the 17th century. - schism of the Russian Orthodox Church. The reason for the schism was disagreement over the issue of correcting rituals and church books. This issue became especially acute after Nikon came to the patriarchate (1652), who energetically began to correct church books and rituals, trying to bring Russian church practice into line with Greek.

The turbulent political events of the early 17th century, which cost the Russian people dearly, affected the state of the culture of Moscow society. Literacy among the Russian population at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century. was still poorly distributed.

Gradually, in connection with the needs of economic and cultural development, Moscow society is becoming increasingly aware of the need for broader education than before. The circle of educated people is becoming wider than in the previous century. Education spreads among the emerging nobility and penetrates into the townsfolk environment, while in the 16th century. it was accessible mainly only to the top of the feudal class.

In the 17th century the number of people who owned large book collections increased. Among them are servicemen, members of the royal family, representatives of the highest clergy, enlightened monks, clerks of the Printing House, and merchants. Secular literature occupies an increasing place in the book collections of private individuals. The greatest interest of readers of the 17th century. books on history, philosophy, geography, cosmography, and medicine were called for, but religious literature still predominated quantitatively, which corresponded to the conditions of the time, the place that religion and the church occupied in the life of society.

Book centers

The center for the production of handwritten church service books in the 17th century. There were still monasteries. Business writing - various office documents and acts - was under the jurisdiction of a special system of administrative institutions and “area” clerks who performed notarial functions. The number of professional scribes increased significantly compared to the previous period, of which in the 17th century. 45% are secular. Serfs often became scribes. From the famous scientist and writer of the 17th century. Prince Shakhovsky, among his courtyard people was the “youngest slave” scribe Olferets, nicknamed “Raven”. In the 17th century there was even a position of “room scribe”.

One of the forms of labor organization of scribes-craftsmen of the 17th century. there were workshops. Thus, in the art workshops of the Ambassadorial Prikaz, goldsmiths-artists, scribes, and bookbinders worked, who mainly carried out orders from the royal court and the Ambassadorial Prikaz, but sometimes accepted orders from private individuals.

Forbidden literature and censorship of books in the 17th century.

The ideology of the masses could not be reflected in the official printed or handwritten literature of the 17th century. With greed, ordinary Russian people caught the thoughts of forbidden works and those flying leaflets that were distributed secretly during the years of peasant unrest and riots. During the times of Ivan Bolotnikov and Stepan Razin, so-called “charming” or “subtle” (i.e., secretly planted) letters circulated among the people. They contained calls for the boyar slaves to “beat their masters.” “Lovely” letters from Stepan Razin flooded the whole country.

Distributing and reading leaflets directed against the oppressors was punished in the most severe manner. Any literature that did not correspond to the dogmas of the church and questioned certain provisions of church teaching was also persecuted. Thus, Patriarch Filaret ordered in 1663 that the church charter printed in 1610 be taken away from all churches and monasteries and sent to Moscow for burning on the grounds that the charter was printed by “the thief, the hawkmoth, the monk Login,” who set out some of its provisions “ by his own self-will."

In the second half of the 17th century. In connection with the correction of church books, all previous editions were persecuted. Thus, in 1681, at the proposal of the tsar, the Council decided: when people sell “all ranks” of books of “previous seals”, “those books should be sent to the printing yard”, and instead of them, newly corrected ones should be given, so that “in the holy churches there will be disagreement, and doubts between people did not have". The work of Athanasius, Archbishop of Kholmogory, “Spiritual Color,” directed against schismatics, by order of Patriarch Joachim, was distributed free of charge to the churches and monasteries of the Novgorod diocese.

Activities of the Moscow Printing Yard

After the death of Andronik Nevezhin in 1602, his son Ivan Andronikov Nevezhin became the head of the Printing House. From 1601 to 1611, both of them published 10 publications of a church-service nature.

In 1605, a second “hut” was opened at the Printing Yard. The “printed book binder” Anisim Radishchevsky worked there. Originally from Volyn, Radishchevsky may have studied typography with Ivan Fedorov.

At the head of the third “hut”, which worked at the Moscow printing yard at the beginning of the 17th century, was the master Nikita Fofanov, who printed the General Menaion in 1609.

During the Polish-Lithuanian intervention, “the printing house and the entire standard of that printing business from those enemies and the adversary went bankrupt and was quickly burned by fire...”

During this difficult time for the country, book printing continued in Nizhny Novgorod. Nikita Fofanov arrived here from Moscow. In 1613, he printed a notebook of 6 sheets (12 pages) - Nizhny Novgorod monument. The author talks about the invasion of the Polish gentry into the Russian land and the atrocities they committed, rejoices at the liberation of the homeland from enemy troops and the revival of the Moscow state.

In 1614, the Moscow Printing House was restored, and Nikita Fofanov, who returned from Nizhny Novgorod, resumed its activities. The staff of the Printing House is gradually increasing. The craft stage of the development of book printing, when almost all production operations were performed by one person, gives way to the manufacturing stage, with its inherent specialization and division of labor.

In Russia, the first manufactories appeared in those industries whose products were widely marketed. This also applied to book printing, designed for the mass production of church-service and “famous” books. Both the state nature of printing and the support of the church played a role. In the second decade of the 17th century. at the Printing Yard there were typesetters, disassemblers, teredorshchiki (printers), batyrshchiki (they applied paint to the typesetting form), cutters of punches for casting type, word-letters, bookbinders, banner-makers (they decorated the “offered” copies intended for the tsar and his immediate 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. editing and proofreading of published books. Correction also played the role of a censorship institution, making sure that only books approved by the church, corrected, were published. 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 Moscow Printing Yard - Vasily Burtsev-Protopopov. He headed an independent department of the printing house and was called the “clerk of the ABC business.” From 1633 to 1642 he published 17 books. Later, in the late 70s, the “Upper” palace printing house, the personal printing house of the Tsar, was set up in the Trinity Tower of the Kremlin. It was led by the famous scientist, poet and playwright Simeon Polotsky. Only she had the right to publish books without special permission from the patriarch, and she did not depend on the management of the Printing House. From 1679 to 1683, the “Upper” printing house published six books, including several works by Simeon of Polotsk.

In 1654, Patriarch Nikon became the head of the Printing House, and church books were corrected in connection with his reform of the church. Since 1686, management of the Printing House passed into the hands of the Likhud brothers; they simultaneously taught at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. Under the Likhuds, students and teachers of the academy worked at the Printing Yard as reference workers and editors.

Throughout the 17th century. 483 books were published in Moscow. According to their content, they are divided into three groups:

Liturgical, church service or religious;

Books are religious, but not liturgical, intended for reading outside church;

The books are not religious.

The predominant part of publications of the 17th century. - books of the first group. The content and themes of books, as in the 16th century, were determined mainly by the needs of the church: the Apostles, Gospels, and Psalters still make up the bulk of the output of the Moscow printing house. The development of the economy, public administration, successes in culture and education lead to some important changes in the publishing activities of the Moscow Printing House. A progressive factor was the publication of works intended not for church services, but for everyday reading. Although these books were part of the circle of church literature, they still expanded the publishing “range” of the Printing House. In addition to the works of such church writers as Ephraim the Syrian, John Chrysostom and others, this group of publications includes collections compiled from the works of Byzantine writers, Ukrainian and Russian authors, as well as 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 is the first Russian printed book for everyday reading.

A special troupe of publications from the 17th century. - 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. In 1634, he published a printed “ABC” in Moscow. It sold out very quickly and was republished already in 1637. The second edition includes verses about the goals and methods of teaching. The book opened with an engraved frontispiece - a scene of punishment of a guilty student with a rod in the “School”. Engraving with secular content is a new phenomenon in Russian printed books of the 17th century. Some primers promoted new methods of teaching and education. Thus, in one of the most interesting primers of the 17th century. - the primer of “Slovenian-Russian letters” by Karion Istomin uses the method of memorizing letters using pictures. The letters are given in various styles - not only Slavic, but also Greek and Latin, in printed and handwritten versions. The illustrations for them depict objects whose names begin with the corresponding letter. Thus, under various designs of the letter “A” there are images of “Adam”, “asp”, “arithmetic”, “April”, “analogy”, etc. On each sheet there are edifying verses. Thus, the sheet with the letter “A” ends with the following poetic line: “From the beginning of your youth, learn everything; everywhere from life, be wiser and console yourself.”

The entire text of the primer with illustrations was engraved on copper in 1694 by Leonty Bunin. Karion Istomin owns another remarkable primer, printed in 1696 using a typographic method. This is one of the rarest Russian books. Only two (out of 20 published) copies of this book have been discovered so far. A significant place in the primer is occupied by the poetic works of K. Istomin himself.

In 1648, the first Moscow edition of the famous “Slavic Grammar of Meletius Smotritsky” was published. It is supplemented with excerpts from the works of Maxim the Greek, examples, and grammatical analysis of sentences. Smotritsky’s “Grammar” was for its time a truly scientific work. It was used in Russia back in the 18th century. (as is known, M.V. Lomonosov studied on it).

The development of military affairs and the increased attention of the state to issues of military art was reflected in the publication of an excellently printed book in sheet size with 35 engravings on copper and an engraved title page based on a drawing by Grigory Blagushin: “The doctrine and cunning of the military structure of infantry people.” This was a translation from Walhausen's German military manual. The book was printed in 1647. The engravings were made by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Holland.

In 1649, the first printed edition of the code of Russian laws was published - “The Code of the Sovereign Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.” The development of trade and the strengthening of the influence of the merchants caused the appearance of such books as “Certificate of Customs Duties” (1654), “Convenient Calculation;” (1682), intended for people “buying and selling.”

In 1699, a book was published in Moscow: “A brief ordinary teaching with the strongest and best explanation of the structure of foot regiments.” This is the last secular printed book of the 17th century, and in our time it is a rare publication.

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.

In contact with

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 modern history Russian Orthodox Book Day is celebrated on March 14th. “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

The first equipment for book printing was extremely simple: a machine and several typesetting cash desks. The basis of the ancient printing press was a screw press. Ivan Fedorov’s machine has survived to this day.

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 inclination to the right is maintained, the letters are even and of the same size. Margins and distances 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.

In 1563, in that part of Moscow called Kitay-Gorod, the stone building of the first Russian printing house was built. Its simple equipment consisted of a printing press and several typesetting cash registers. Unfortunately, the printing press on which Ivan Fedorov worked in Moscow has not survived. During the fire of 1571, the first printing house also burned down.

In memory of Ivan Fedorov’s printing press, Russian craftsmen in the 17th century made an exact copy of it, reduced by 6 times (the model is kept at the State Historical Museum in Moscow).

The design of the printing press is based on a screw press. Typing the text began with typing a line. The typed lines were placed in a special plate - a typesetting board (in the famous “Apostle” a line contained 37 lines); a total of 25 lines fit in the typesetting strip. The frame with the set was placed on a thaler. The batyrschik (that is, the worker at the press) rolled the set with special printing ink using a hand roller or matzo - a large leather mitten. The paint was made from a mixture of boiled linseed oil and soot. A sheet of clean paper was placed on the deckle, covering it with a rashet on top. By turning the side handle, the thaler was pushed under the piano. When the cookie was turned, the pian dropped down and pressed on the thaler.

In this case, the sheet lying on the deckle was pressed tightly against the stripes of the set through the slots of the racket. After some time, the warrior turned the kuku away from himself, and the pian rose upward. Raising the rashket, the master took out a sheet with the finished text.

The Russian book printer introduced a lot of new things into the technology of book printing. For the first time in the world, Ivan Fedorov began to use two-color printing from one typesetting plate: in the finished set, colored parts were raised, special blocks were placed underneath them, thus obtaining a two-tiered typesetting form. The form was rolled out with red paint - the paint was applied only to the top tier - and an imprint was made. Then the parts of the upper tier were taken out, the rest of the set was rolled over with black paint and the print was again made on the same sheet. This is how two-color text was printed on paper. This method greatly simplified the printing process and saved the printer’s time and effort. Researchers believe that the idea of ​​this printing method was suggested to Ivan Fedorov by handwritten Old Church Slavonic books.

1. Press frame.

2. Frame with a ready-made set.

3. Press screw.

4. Cook - handle of the press.

5. Pian - a smooth board that is located above the typesetting frame.

6. Thaler - retractable board. Attached to the thaler on hinges are: - a deckle - a narrow frame covered with dense material, and a rashket, or mask - a sheet of parchment with “windows” cut into it, corresponding to the size of the typesetting stripes. The purpose of the rashket is to protect the paper from covering the margins with paint.

7. The lower frame of the press along which the thaler moves.

8. Handle for extending the thaler.

For centuries, the knowledge contained in books was the property of a few, mainly monks and priests. Each book was unique, but for most people in the Middle Ages this was not a problem - they were illiterate. In the Middle Ages, books were copied by hand, usually in monasteries. Often monks spent years on one book. In 1450, one invention changed the world.

In the German city of Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg invented the technique of printing using movable letters. It was now possible to print books in large quantities and relatively cheaply. The technical foundation was laid for future changes in the fields of science, politics and religion.

Johann Gensfleisch, who later changed his name to Gutenberg, was born in Mainz around 1400. His father was a rich merchant. Young Johann went to a monastery school. This is what we know, but then its trace is lost for a long time.
He reappeared only in 1434 in Strasbourg. Here he founded a factory for the production of mirrors for pilgrims. They were very popular among believers, who hoped to capture in the mirror a piece of God’s spirit from each temple and the relics stored in it. Gutenberg's business flourished.

At that time, trade in religious objects brought great income. Engravings depicting saints were especially popular. Woodcut is one of the first printing techniques, but it came to Europe only in the Middle Ages. It was used mainly for replicating paintings and texts. But cutting out page-sized blocks was time-consuming. First, I had to draw a mirror image of the page on the block, then cut out individual letters. Finally, the block was smeared with ink, paper was placed on it and rubbed with a bone tool to absorb the ink.

In 1448 Gutenberg returned to Mainz. Here he found financial support and was able to start his own enterprise. A brilliant idea occurred to him. He divided the text into components: letters, punctuation marks and their frequent combinations - ligatures. They were combined into blocks, typing words, lines and pages. Cast letters could be reused in different combinations.

This is how letter is made. An inverted letter is engraved on the end of the metal rod. It is dipped in softened copper, leaving an imprint in it. This matrix acts as a mold for the actual type, which is cast from lead.
To be able to produce letters quickly and in sufficient quantity, Gutenberg made another important step- Invented a tool for hand casting. It consists of a rectangular gutter. A matrix is ​​inserted into one end and molten lead is poured from the other. When the mold is opened, the finished lead letter lies inside. The matrix can be used to produce an unlimited number of characters.

Finally, the typesetter begins to assemble the letters into a layout. Lines are inserted into the form so that they form the desired sequence. The result is a mirror image of the page. The form is coated with printing ink. Gutenberg used a mixture of soot, varnish and egg white. Now you can start typing. Gutenberg had a special machine, but he borrowed the principle from a wine press.

Gutenberg Bible
One of Gutenberg's greatest admirers was Martin Luther. The art of printing led him to bold idea— a layman has no need to wait for a priest to tell him what the Bible says. He can read it for himself and make a choice between the true text and the false interpretations of the church. Luther printed half a million copies of his German translation of the Bible—a huge circulation at that time. To convey his ideas to people, he distributed hundreds of thousands of pamphlets.

Gutenberg himself did not get rich from his invention. He did not even have time to finish printing the Bible when his creditor demanded repayment of the debt. In the subsequent legal war, Gutenberg lost both the press and all the printed Bibles.

Soon after this, Mainz was captured by enemy troops. Gutenberg was expelled. Three years later he was allowed to return and work for the new archbishop. On February 3, 1468, Johannes Gutenberg died.
He was buried in the Franciscan church in Mainz. But his invention—movable type printing—changed the world forever.