In this article the author explores the formation of theRussian academic printing industry.In accordance with the plans ofPeter theGreat, a printing house was established inSt.Petersburg under the auspices of the newly foundedAcademy ofSciences, which is the direct predecessor of the modernPublishingHouse “Nauka”.In the first decades of its existence, theAcademicPrintingHouse became not only one of the most advanced enterprises of the time, but also an important educational centre.Its printers were eventually employed by other printing houses both in the capitals and throughoutRussia.ThePrintingHouse was a subdivision of theAcademy ofSciences and, fulfilling its immediate duties, was also involved in the educational process.Due to the lack of centralised art education inRussia at that time, thePrintingHouse and its workshops became an educational institution in this field as well.Working in direct contact with it were theChambers ofFineArts, which brought together engravers, draughtsmen, and masters of typography.Prior to the establishment of theAcademy ofArts in 1757, thePrintingHouse and the associatedChamber ofDrawing andSchool ofDrawing were the most important centres of art education inRussia.The books and periodicals published in thePrintingHouse in the first half of the eighteenth century, when it was the only centre of academic and popular scholarly printing in theRussianEmpire, also played an outstanding educational role.The author traces the stages of formation of thePrintingHouse’s traditions and presents its first projects.The author concludes that it was in theAcademicPrintingHouse and in those endeavours of theAcademy ofSciences, in which thePrintingHouse took an active part, that the foundations of theRussian system of secular education were laid.
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