Estonian Book Research Articles

Estonian book historiography

he scientific study of the history of the Estonian book began in the 1930s, and some essays published then have not lost their value up to the present. During this period, the fundamentals of book statistics and the first comprehensive history of the Estonian book by F. Puksoo were published. The attention of researchers was mainly concentrated on 16th-17th, and partly 18th-century publications. During the post-war period, there was no leading center for book study, and the research concentrated at the major libraries. The problems of book history and research were also studied in the Department of Bibliography, first at Tartu University and then at Tallinn Pedagogical Institute. In the 1960s, Estonian post-war book historiography achieved more serious results. Republican scientific conferences on book study became a significant factor in the development of book science. The opportunities for publishing improved significantly. The entire potential was used for the collective monograph about the history of the Estonian book, which commemorated the 450th anniversary of Estonian printed books in 1975. In the 1980s, researchers' attention was concentrated on the development of printing. During more than 50 years of study of books and book problems, a large body of factual material has been assembled and generalized. However, the development of the theoretical basis of the study of the Estonian book and the publication of research results is hindered by the lack of a center for scientific book study.

The Beginning of the Registration of Estonian Books in Printed Works as Compared with that of the Other Nations of the Baltic Sea

The Beginning of the Registration of Estonian Books in Printed Works as Compared with that of the Other Nations of the Baltic Sea

Gustav Mootse’s Works in the Periodicals of St Petersburg in the Early 20th Century

The article presents the under-explored St Petersburg period in the work of Gustav Mootse, famous Estonian artist, founder of Estonian book graphics and ex libris master. Upon a thorough archival research of illustrated periodicals, the authors have revealed unknown images by Mootse. Based on those, they make conclusions on stages in Mootse’s creative evolution, show a progressive growth in his standing in St Petersburg periodicals, show his search for forms and experiments, and comment on specifics of his creative work.

Translating the Soviet Thaw in the Estonian context: entangled perspectives on the book series Loomingu Raamatukogu

ABSTRACT This article develops a multilayered analysis of the Estonian book series Loomingu Raamatukogu within the context of the Soviet Thaw. The series has been issued since 1957 and is principally devoted to translations of foreign literature. My argument takes the Thaw as a new field of uncertain possibilities and shows how a wide translation project became the catalyst for experimentation in the gray zone between the allowed and the forbidden. Investigating the entanglement of different levels of contextual analysis through the prism of Loomingu Raamatukogu lets us refine our understanding of the Thaw and of the complex possibilities and constraints that shaped the performative capacity of cultural agents in the Soviet 1960s.

Translations of Non-Russian Soviet Literature in the Estonian Book Production (1940s-1980s)

This paper explores the dynamics of publishing of non-Russian Soviet literatures in Soviet Estonia, establishing the output of titles and the most popular source literatures. The analysis follows the position of Soviet national literatures during four periods in political history: the Stalinist years, the Thaw, Stagnation, and Perestroika. The study uses statistical yearbooks, bibliographies, archival material, as well as research literature as sources. The publishing of Soviet literature was strongly regulated by the publishing authorities and dependent on ideological directions. The analysis demonstrates that the proportion of the non-Russian Soviet literatures started to increase during the Thaw period, but the peak of its production was reached during the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s due to official pressure. The total number of source literatures was 49, demonstrating the diversity of translation production, although they were represented equally. The top source literatures were Latvian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian. The interest of the literary circles and reading audiences in the translations was rather weak, although the top authors attracted the attention of the more intellectual segment of readers.

ESTIŠKŲ, LATVIŠKŲ IR LIETUVIŠKŲ KNYGŲ LEIDYBOS APIMČIŲ DINAMIKA XIX A. PIRMOJE PUSĖJE: LYGINAMOJI ANALIZĖ

Straipsnyje pateikiami XIX a. estiškų, latviškų ir lietuviškų knygų leidybos apimčių lyginamojo tyrimo rezultatai. Tyrimas buvo atliktas remiantis šiuo metu reprezentatyviausiais šaltiniais ‒ nacionalinėmis retrospektyviosiomis estiškų, latviškų ir lietuviškų knygų bibliografijomis. Išsiaiškinus, kiek leidinių buvo išleidžiama kasmet nuo 1801 iki 1855 metų, buvo suskaičiuotas bendras leidinių skaičius kiekvienoje šalyje, leidybos apimčių vidurkiai dešimtmečiais bei leidybos apimčių vidurkiai vienam milijonui gyventojų dešimtmečiais. Pasitelkus gautus duomenis ir taikant aprašomosios statistikos metodus buvo palygintos kiekybinės leidybos apimtys visu nagrinėjamu laikotarpiu ir dešimtmečiais, nustatytos jų kaitos tendencijos, taip pat numatytos tolesnės tokių tyrimų kryptys. Leidybos apimtims analizuoti buvo taikomi bibliografinis, aprašomosios statistikos (duomenų rinkimo, sisteminimo ir pateikimo) bei lyginimo metodai, o pagrindžiant tolesnes tyrimų kryptis – analizinės statistikos metodai.

ESTIŠKŲ, LATVIŠKŲ IR LIETUVIŠKŲ KNYGŲ LEIDYBOS APIMČIŲ DINAMIKA XIX A. PIRMOJE PUSĖJE: LYGINAMOJI ANALIZĖ

The article presents results of comparative analysis of book publishing statistics in Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian languages in the 19th century. This study was conducted referring to the most representative sources at that moment – the national retrospective bibliographies of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian books. After the analysis of all the publications that had been published yearly from 1801 to 1855, the overall number of publications was then calculated in every country. Furthermore, the publishing rates were evaluated for every decade in the three countries and additionally rates of publications per 1,000,000 inhabitants over every decade were calculated and evaluated. The data presented in this article should be viewed as an initial stage for the comparative analysis of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian nineteenth century book publishing. Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian nations grew by preserving the old national traditions and developing new targets for political existence. At the same time, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian books were becoming more modern. Even various restrictions on the rights of nations living in the lands occupied by the Russian Empire and the annihilation of cultural differences did not prevent their publishing evolution. However, in view of general growth trend, publishing development varied in different countries and was determined by economic, social and cultural features of each region. Compared to Lithuania, the environment for the development of national books was more friendly in Estonia and Latvia. After the analysis of all above-mentioned sources it was determined that over the period from 1801 to 1855, most publications were published in the Latvian language – 1846, almost eight hundred less in Estonian language, accounting for 1027, and almost twice less (three times less than Latvian), accounting for 644, in the Lithuanian language. Evidently, book publishing in national language in Lithuania fell significantly behind compared to Latvia and Estonia. It is also important to note that book development in all three countries was uneven and was undergoing periodic rises and falls. The analysis of publishing rates per 1,000,000 inhabitants over every decade showed that Estonia had the highest rate of the three Baltic countries researched. Estonian book publishing increased from 18 to 102 print units per year or rose five-times, whilst in Latvia it increased from 28 to 67 units or 2.3 times. In Lithuania, book publishing rates per 1,000,000 inhabitants over the 55-year period increased not that highly – from 6 to 16 print units per year. By contrast, this rise in publishing rates was 0.3 times higher than in Latvia. The results of this initial study could be used for continuing research of such nature. Bibliographic method, descriptive statistics (data collection, organisation and presentation) and comparative methods were employed to analyse quantitative volumes of publishing, whereas analytical and statistical methods could be used to verify the quantitative trends of the development of publishing and their breaking points. Analytical statistics methods, rarely used in the works of bibliographers, could provide new knowledge on the changes of publishing in percentage terms. At least some of the methods could be employed. For example, the join point method, which could help clarifying the qualitative development trends of publishing by a number of particular linear segments (periods) and points, setting essential changes of the phenomenon in order to identify a statistically relevant or irrelevant growth or decline in publishing in percentage terms, and to distinguish its breaking points. Another method is that of simple linear regression, which helps to calculate the average annual change in the number of publications in percentage terms and depict this in a graph. This trend of developing comparative studies of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian books may lead to qualitatively better results.

1918–1944 METŲ ESTŲ KNYGOTYROS ISTORIOGRAFIJA IR ŠALTINIAI

The article characterises the formation and development of the Estonian book science during the years 1918–1944 and gives an overview about the research on the period in the second half of the 20th century. Book science as an independent field of research started to develop in Estonia in the 1920s. Friedrich Puksoo and Richard Antik became the most significant researchers. F. Puksoo is the author of the first general overview of the history of the Estonian book, published in 1933. R. Antik made a major contribution to retrospective bibliography and book statistics. 138 publications treating the field of book science were published in Estonian language in 1918–1944. The analysis of these publications demonstrates a considerable rise in the number of publications on book history during the Year of the Book which was celebrated in 1935–1936. By the 1930s book studies had become an independent field of research which tackled both historical and contemporary issues. The article also includes a thematic analysis of the publications, which are divided into eight groups: general treatments, research on printing, publishing, book dissemination, book art, studies of a concrete book, statistical analysis and works on bibliophilism. As to the thematic structure of the publications, general treatments were the most numerous (34), history of printing, book dissemination, studies on a concrete book and book art were also popular topics of research whereas the smallest number of publications (8) were devoted to bibliophilism. The researchers of that time have made a valuable contribution in the development of book research by gathering rich factual data, elaborating the basic principles of book statistics, compiling the first general treatments of book history. During the first post-war decade, the Stalinist era, research on the book history of the the period of independence in 1918–1940 was discontinued. The treatment of the topics connected with publishing and distribution of books in 1918–1940 enlivened only during the 1970s. The leading researcher Mare Lott has written articles published in Estonian and in foreign languages. The results of her reasearch are presented most completely in her unpublished dissertation. For the larger public they are available in the collective monograph “The Estonian Book 1525–1975”, issued in 1978. Numerous diploma works and Bachelor’s thesis have been written on this period under her guidance, but the results of these works have not been published. Since perestroika the ideological constraints in the treatment of the period disappeared, but the research of the book branch of this era has not been very intensive. Among the most outstanding achievements are the collections of articles dedicated to the two leading book reserachers Fr. Puksoo and R. Antik. A research group has been formed in the Tallinn University to prepare a comprehensive work on the book branch of that period which would tackle the topic from the contemporary viewpoint.

XIX A. pabaigos–XX A. PRADŽIOS ESTIJOS KNYGŲPREKYBININKAI, LEIDĖJAI IR SPAUDOS DARBUOTOJAI

The article handles general developments and changes in book trade and book publishing which took place in Estonia during the second half of the 19th and in the early 20th century. The aim is to show the formation of bookshops trading with Estonian books, to analyse the activities of Estonian booksellers as publishers and their role in publishing books in the Estonian language. The paper is based on the retrospective national bibliography of Estonian books that were published from 1850 to 1917, on research literature and on the data collected by the author for her doctoral thesis.

Die Stadt als Erinnerung: unzeitgemässe Notizen

The City as Memory: Untimely Notes The essay focuses on the city and its essence in the context of memory. It is asserted that the true essence of a city as such cannot be completely revealed by individual sciences or by explanatory dictionaries. Therefore, 1) the Estonian word linn (city) is allowed to reveal itself with reference to its origin, and 2) the city itself is allowed to show itself as it really is, i.e. phenomenologically. Essentially, the essence of a city consists of both caring for and restricting its own residents or citizenry and the essence of the citizenry is to care for and restrict its own city. Figuratively, the relationship between a city and its citizens can be compared to that of a mother and child. Examples of this correlation, and the possibility that the correlation can change to reciprocal animosity or, instead, to love, are cited from Estonian literature (Karl Ristikivi, Oskar Luts, Bernard Kangro and others). Based on memories, the author focuses on the university town of Tartu, the city of his birth and his hometown. The city not only suffered damage during World War II, but also in the post-war years. For instance, the Soviet city authorities carelessly blew up and demolished the ruins of the Vanemuine Theatre, built in the geometric Art Nouveau style of Vienna, instead of rebuilding it with the aim of conserving it for the future. Imminent total destruction also threatened the district that provided the author shelter during his childhood and adolescent years. Luckily Soviet power itself was destroyed – ended – before it was able to totally destroy one of its “greatest enemies” (as the author sees it) – the section of Tartu’s Karlova district adjacent to Ropka. CV: Ulo Matjus is a philosopher, philologist, bibliophil, professor of history of Estonian philosophy at the University of Tartu. His main research fields include phenomenological philosophy (in the broadest sense) and being-historical thinking in Germany; scientific (commented) translation of phenomenological philosophy and being-historical thinking to Estonian; historically specific characters of mental social phenomena (metaphysics, philosophy, science, morals, religion, values etc.) in front of their modern unitedness; appearance of the historically specific character of aesthetical phenomena – especially the art – in age of the modern technology; history of Estonian book and the bibliophily.

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.

Repression and incitement: A critical demographic, feminist, and transnational analysis of birth control in Estonia, 1920–1939

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the discussions of birth control and contraception in mainstream Estonian periodicals and books, published in the interwar Estonian Republic, 1920–1939. This study shows that, although fertility rates were low in Estonia, the discussion of birth control methods was very limited in mainstream texts. Moreover, there were no visible organizations, centers, clinics, or individuals that consistently educated the public about birth control or advocated for greater access to contraceptives. A number of translated books were published, however, that provided pertinent advice and linked Estonia to the transnational social field of birth control. The main social forces that repressed Estonians' ability to engage more openly with issues of birth control were the ideology of respectability, the nationalist fear of depopulation, and particular understandings of femininity, masculinity, and sexuality.

RED BOOK OF ESTONIAN PUBLICATIONS 1535–1850: EXPERIENCE AND LESSONS OF THE PROJECT

Preservation of objects that have social, scientific or cultural significance for the future has become one of the most challenging problems of the society. The establishment of preservation priorities is one of the most complicated tasks facing the information institutions. The whole procedure entails a lot of responsibility as decisions that are made will determine the amount of information available to future generations. The article demonstrates experience and lessons gained in the project “Red Book of Estonian Publications, 1535–1850” that was conducted in 2003–2006. Growing out from the need to make decisions for preservation strategies and to establish principles for future digitization of Estonian book heritage, the project drew attention to the importance of having distinct methodology and coherent criteria for the assessment of culturally valuable objects. The project team stressed the importance of preservation quality, especially when using reformatting technologies like microfilming and digitization. Preservation of informational integrity of a document is one of the key questions of the digital future.

Booksellers as Publishers in Estonia in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century and at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century

The article handles general developments and changes in book trade and publishing which took place in Estonia during the second half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. The aim is to show the publishing activities of Estonian booksellers and to analyse the activities of Estonian booksellers and development of book production (printing) and publishing of Estonian language books. The survey is based on the research literature and on the master thesis by Signe Jantson, Book Trade in Estonia 1850–1917: Bookshops and their Owners. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century the book production and dissemination in Estonia was in the hands of Baltic German entrepreneurs and depended on the political and economic developments not only in Russia but also in Germany. The Estonian national awakening movement was preceded by the birth of Estonian national literature in the middle of the nineteenth century. In the period of the next fifty years the publication of Estonian language books increased tenfold. The second half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century was still favourable for the book trade: 263 new shops were opened and 283 new persons tried to start book trade businesses, but trading with books did not guarantee sufficient income and the bookshop owners were often engaged in other spheres. Among the 283 bookshop owners, 83 headed companies comprising the publishing house, the printing office, and the bookshop.

Noor-Eesti ja kunstnikud. Young Estonia’s Artists

In Estonian art history, the beginning of the 20th century is the era of the birth of nationalist art. This is the time when the first artists to study abroad, the brothers Paul and Kristjan Raud, and Ants Laikmaa return home from their studies in Düsseldorf and Munich. In the homeland, these artists’ cultural and political spirit brought them into contact with the Young Estonians, one generation younger than they were, whose overall world-view and artistic views they came to shape. The program of the Young Estonians included the furthering of cultural life as a whole; therefore they participated enthusiastically in discussions about the visual arts, and ways in which to advance art in the homeland. Through the mediation of Ants Laikmaa, they made contact with Nikolai Triik, an artist of their own generation, who in turn engaged his former fellow students from the Stieglitz School of Applied Arts in St. Petersburg – Aleksander Tassa, Jaan Koort, and Konrad Mägi. The interests and travel destinations of writers and artists were similar: they found themselves drawn primarily to Scandinavia, then Paris. Young Estonia’s almanacs and magazines were illustrated and adorned by reproductions of these same artists’ works, and artists contributed their writings on art to the publication. Nikolai Triik was artistic editor for the Young Estonia magazine, thanks to his stronger ties with the homeland and his greater authority. In the years 1909 and 1914 Young Estonia organized art exhibits, in which several artists studying abroad found their first reception among a homeland public. Young Estonia created a new standard in Estonian book design. Discussions began around the question of ”nationalism” in art. The Young Estonia period 1905–1915 was an era of great change in Estonian art, and the artists connected with the movement played a major role in subsequent developments. Together they established the art association ”Pallas” in 1918, and a year later opened a school by the same name in Tartu, which became the seedbed of Estonian national art for the following several decades.

The Fine Arts Information Centre of the National Library of Estonia

Key to the provision of art information in Estonia is the National Library’s Fine Arts Information Centre, offering services to some 60,000 visitors each year as well as producing the national bibliographic databases of maps, posters, postcards, sound recordings and sheet music. But co-operation with other major art libraries in Estonia is also flourishing, beginning with the selection of new material for the art and architectural history collections in consultation with scholars in other arts organizations, and culminating in 1999 in the foundation of the Estonian Art Libraries Society. This year, Estonian Book Year, marking the 475th anniversary of the very first known Estonian book, seems an excellent opportunity to describe what is happening in art librarianship in this country.

The world of growing-up in Oskar Luts'springand Mark Twain'sThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer

On several levels, the novels Spring [Est. Kevade ], by the Estonian author Oskar Luts, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain share many similarities. These similarities are striking enough to suggest a strong case for Luts having been influenced by Mark Twain's novel. Indeed, textual analysis as well as consideration of certain aspects in Luts' life indicate that Twain is likely to have had not only a mediated influence on Luts but also provided direct inspiration. Luts was born in 1887, eleven years after Twain's Adventures was published. Adventures was translated into German in 1876, the same year it first appeared in English, and into Russian some ten years later (Rodney xxx). Twain's books were clearly extremely popular in Europe, and it is most likely that Luts, a lover of literature, had read Adventures in translation. Learning Russian was, of course, required in Estonia at the turn of the century and Luts, as an assistant pharmacist and therefore a person educated in languages, as well as in literature, was sure to have had access to Adventures in both German and Russian (Nirk and Sogel 214). Indeed, the Estonian writer's Spring opens as the students are in Russian class. Besides biographical details pointing to Luts' acquaintance with the American author's works, there is textual evidence that is very telling. The first such indication is that one of the main characters in Spring , Toots, has a fascination with Americana, especially the wilder, frontier aspects of it. Toots collects illustrated stories about Indians, which he tries to share with his classmates at inopportune times; this gets him into trouble to the extent that the teacher forbids him to bring these American-based books to school with him. Toots even receives the nickname Kentucky Lion because of his enthusiasm for the American frontier. Curiously enough, Mark Twain has ties to Kentucky: according to The Oxford Companion to American Literature (Hart 148), his father was married in that state. As far as the plots of the two novels are concerned, similarities between the American and Estonian books are evident from the start. Both