THE SYSTEM OF PERIODICALS IN TAMBOV PROVINCE AT THE END OF THE 18th AND BEGINNING OF THE 20th CENTURIES

Abstract. The article explores the history of the formation and development of the pre-revolutionary Tambov periodical press. In particular, key figures who made a significant contribution to the improvement of periodicals are considered. The conclusion reflects the results of the development of periodicals in Tambov Province.

Keywords: historical source, periodicals, Tambov Province, printing house.

The development of modern historical science is characterised by a great interest in the study of the social history of Russia in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Parallels can be drawn between the processes of state development at that time, the modernization of many aspects of society and the social transformations taking place in the last twenty years of the twenty-first century.

Evolution in the periodical press is also the result of modernization of many spheres of social life in Russia in the second half of XIX - early XX centuries, and it is associated with the "Great Reforms" of 1860-1870s. Transformations in education increased the number of literate people, which broadened the readership, and relaxed censorship allowed many periodicals to increase circulation of newspapers, magazines, etc.

The process of development of the periodical press proceeded evenly throughout the territory of the Russian Empire; publishers in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as the provinces made great progress. Now, the attention of scientists is increasingly attracted to provincial periodicals, because in order to study the great Russian people, which spread over vast territories, it is not enough to study only the capital's periodicals, we must look wider, paying close attention to each region, which has its own distinctive characteristics. The expansion of the field and methods of historical research is directing the vector of scholarly interest towards the study of local history.

V. I. Bovykin [1]  and A. N. Bokhanov [2], whose works have examined the specifics of the formation and functioning of the stock press, have made an invaluable contribution to the development of the issue of information capabilities of periodicals in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

S.S. Dmitriev [4], later by A.G. Golikov [6], created original studies of periodicals. In their works, these researchers developed a set of general theoretical and methodological issues of source studies of the periodical press.

The study of history is one of the fundamental aspects of knowing how a society has functioned over the centuries. In order to learn about the past of a people, country, city, etc., it is necessary to resort to the study of historical sources. As it is known, historical sources can be tangible (archaeological sites) and intangible (written). Written sources carry a huge amount of information about people and the time in which they were created. Historical sources are the basis of any historical research, without their study in a deep dialectical unity of content and form is impossible scientific knowledge of the history of social development [9, p. 13].

There have long been debates around historical sources, and even the definition itself has caused some dissonance in research circles. For example, A.S. Lappo-Danilevsky said that "a historical source is a realised product of the human psyche, suitable for the study of facts with historical significance". I.D. Kovalchenko regarded as historical sources "everything that is related to the history of nature and human society" [8, p. 3]. The dominant definition was that of I.N. Danilevsky and V.V. Kabanov: "A historical source is everything from which one can obtain information about the development of society" [3, p. 10].

The periodical press, and printing in general, appeared in Tambov province thanks to the private initiative of Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin, the governor of Tambov in 1786-1788. Derzhavin entered Russian history as a writer, Minister of Justice, governor of two provinces, and personal assistant of Catherine II. Taking advantage of the decree of 1773, which allowed the establishment of public printers in the provincial boards and the "Decree on free printers", two "free printers" appeared in the Tambov land.

The primary task of the printing house at the initial stage of its development, according to G. R. Derzhavin's ideas, was economic gain and the elimination of bureaucracy. In his letter to N.I. Novikov, the leading printer of those years, the Governor wrote: "In view of the vastness of the local province and the multitude of current affairs, there are many papers that would rather have their course through a printing house; if I find it advantageous that it is cheaper to maintain one mill than a number of empty feeders, I would venture to establish a printing house for clerical production only" [7, p. 26]. After reading, the letter N.I. Novikov sent to Tambov a printing press, printing materials and trained people. G. R. Derzhavin ordered from Moscow printed originals of forms, laws and stationery.

The printing house started to work actively in 1788, producing printed copies of senate decrees, orders of the governor's office and others. On a regular basis, leaflets with information about the prices of bread and flour were issued, aimed at curbing the appetite of provincial commissioners. January 1, 1788 saw the publication of the first issue of the newspaper "Tambovskie izvestiya" - the first provincial newspaper, the prototype of "provincial gazette", which appeared everywhere 50 years later.

There is very scant information about the development and functioning of "Tambovskie izvestiya". The Russian Bibliographer journal of 1913 quoted a few facts from N. M. Petrovskiy's article: the paper published information that was previously published on leaflets, summaries of local events and visits of celebrities were published, the newspaper was distributed through town governors; for gathering information the newspaper had a special desk, the prototype of the modern editorial office, with one head clerk and two scribes. The newspaper published announcements, posters, information about contracts and payoffs, and about runaway recruits. Current events were covered, for example, the opening of the Morshansk City Duma in February 1788. The newspaper wrote about it in detail, listing those present and describing the ritual of the opening [7, p. 30].

Thanks to the activities of G. R. Derzhavin, A. M. Nilov, who managed the printing house after the Viceroy left, the work of I. G. Rachmaninov, Tambov Province at the end of the XVIII century reached one of the first places in print production. 

Notwithstanding the success of the end of the XVIII century, at the beginning of the XIX century, the Tambov Gubernia printing did not develop further, as a decree of 1796 "On free printing-houses closing" was issued; as a result of it the printing-house, founded by Derzhavin, was sold in 1778 to A. M. Nilov for the governmental subsidies.

The new dawn of the printing industry in Tambov province was connected with Governor Nikolai Mikhailovich Gamaley; it was under his leadership that the "Tambov Province Gazette" was founded in 1837, which began to be published from 1838 under Governor Alexander Alexandrovich Kornilov on Saturdays. At first, the Gazette was a kind of a board, where information about awards, official sale of estates, etc. was published.

In 1861, a weekly newspaper "Tambovsky diocesan Gazette" was published, which was supervised by the Tambov ecclesiastical consistory, under the guidance of Bishop Theophan of Tambov and Shatsk. It published the official materials of the Synod and consistory, local diocesan orders and announcements, articles on church history (including those of local historians G. V. Khitrov and S. A. Bereznevsky) [5, p. 5]. The articles dealt with the history of the region, and discussed social, political, and philosophical problems. From 1812, the work of the Tambov church archeological committee, which was engaged in the preservation of church antiquities, was described in detail. The editors of the newspaper were appointed rectors of the Tambov Theological Seminary, who were approved by the Synod on the petition of the Tambov bishop.

There were 21 printing houses in Tambov Province at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, but most of the private ones could not compete with the official editions and were often closed down. A great success in periodicals was achieved in Kozlov, where in the early XX century there were five private printing houses. The most profitable printing house was an establishment of merchant D.Z. Kolmank, which was a steam typography with forty employees. In 1901, "Kozlovskaya Gazeta" began to be published with an editor P.P. Paduchev.

From 1905, "Tambovsky Golos" was published, with L.D. Briukhatova and N.I. Satina as editors. After Nikolay II granted "freedom of speech" (after the events of the first Russian revolution) the newspapers started gaining popularity. By 1906, there were seven periodicals in the province, but in 1907, this number was reduced to five.

By the end of the 1920s, a certain system of periodicals had developed in the Tambov Province. The following newspapers were published: "Tambovsky Krestyanin", "Tambovskaya Pravda", "Molodoi Krestyanin", district newspapers "Golos Plakhar", "Nasha Pravda", "Krasny Zvon". The main task of the editions of that period was propaganda and agitator activity; this work was based on the Rabselkorov movement in the province, which was being actively formed thanks to the press under the leadership of the provincial and district party organizations.

A great role in the development of the publishing repertoire in Tambov province in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries was played by public organizations, which actively spread after the reforms of the 60-70-s. They included literary-artistic, scientific, enlightening societies, professional associations, and charity organizations and so on. The Tambov Scientific Archives Commission showed the greatest activity. The provincial and zemstvo-printing house printed all the TUAC's works free of charge. The most active figures in the Commission were N. I. Dubasov, V. V. Solovsky (was the editor of the unofficial department of the "Tambovsky provincial gazette"), A. N. Nortsov, I. F. Tokmakov, I. N. Nikolev.

So, on the basis of the above mentioned facts we can conclude that the periodical press started working in Tambov Province on November 24, 1787, when a decree allowing the "free typography" in Tambov was issued. The development of periodicals was uneven; there were periods of decline and boom, but by the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, rather solid printing establishments had been formed, with permanent publication of periodicals such as "Tambovsky Gubernskie Vedomosti", "Tambovsky Eparchial Gazette", "Tambovsky Voice" and others.