Troitskosavsk Public Library Visitors’ Reading Fiction in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Abstract

Lack of comprehensive records on the history of reading in Siberian cities’ libraries, scanty and brief references to reading fiction by the Troitskosavsk Public Library visitors condition the novelty of the declared topic. The purpose of the article is to determine the place of fiction in the reading circle of the Troitskosavsk Public Library visitors in the late XIX – early XX centuries. Methods of comparative analysis, statistical and source study became the main ones when exploring the topic. The source base of the study was 18 reports about the work of the library for 23 years (1887–1909), starting from the time of its foundation, and 2 catalogs revealing its collections.For the first time, the share of fiction in the issuance of publications from the library to the house, in general and without periodicals, was calculated. The obtained data reveal that fiction was the main object of readers’ demands. Calculations were made of the total number of issues of books of individual writers and poets for 15 years (1895–1909) and the average per year, basing on which the top 20 of the most popular of domestic and foreign authors within the library visitors were compiled. The first three places in the ranking of Russian writers were taken by L. N. Tolstoy, V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, A. K. Sheller-Mikhailov, foreign – M. Reed, J. Verne, G. Emar. Readers gave clear preference to prose works. The works of Russian authors were more often in the library visitors’ demand than foreign ones.The study complements the information already introduced into scientific circulation about reading fiction in pre-revolutionary Siberia, its place in the reading circle of Siberians and their popular authors.