Ausra Navickiene, Department of Book Research, University of Vilnius, Lithuania
Book trade in Lithuania in the 19th century is a part of a distinctive and complicated Lithuanian book history. Traditionally this period is divided into two parts - the first covers the year 1795 to 1864, the second - the year 1864 to 1904. The Lithuanian book trade of the first half of the 19th century is one of the most researchable questions.
In Lithuanian book historiography a lot of work has been done on books written in Lithuanian language and books written in other languages (especially Jewish) has almost not been researched at all. So, this work is one of the first attempts to discuss book trade institutions, their activity and used methods of trade, book trade assortment, trade relations, book price and tendencies of price determination and advertisement in book trade activity of the first half of the 19th century Lithuania. (Lithuania is viewed as the territory which belongs to Lithuania nowadays (excluding Klaipëda's region) and which in 1795 after the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian state or Commonwealth became a part of tsarist Russia empire).
Book trade was the main way of book distribution in 1795-1864. It was conditioned by increased quantity and quality of book publishing in Lithuania, by started professionalism, specialisation, privatisation of book publishing, printing and distribution activity, by existing tsarist Russia commercial and censorship law, by network of educational institutions and literacy of population, by changing demands of readers and they financial capabilities, by common political, economical and cultural situation of the country.
At that period in book trade activity were involved special book trade institutions - book-shops, printing houses and binders, religious and secular organisations and private persons.
Russian trade law, what was valid in Lithuania, permitted trade of two kinds: book trade with authorisations and free book trade. Commercial permissions were available to representatives of different classes of Russia's empire and foreign countries. Trade permission showed dependency to concrete categories and guilds, granted some trade rights and privileges, defined extent and form of trade activity, limited size of financial capital, number and nature of book sale institutions and so on. People engaged in free trade didn't need to worry about permission. As free booksellers could act peasants, citizens and a part of landlords. The law of free trade described goods which were allowed to be sold. Among them we could find old books and stamps. The term "old books" was not clearly defined so street traders and books distributors could sell all kind of books, what they did. No trade limitations existed in markets and fairs where representatives of all classes could sell different goods.
Vilnius merchants lists showed that the main part of book traders belonged to merchant's class. The most of them were members of the third guild and some traders belonged to the first or second guild.
Characteristic book trade feature of the 19th century was appea-ring and increasing in number specialised book trade institutions - book-shops - where books became the main goods.
In the end of the 18th century in Vilnius there was only one book-shop - book-shop of Vilnius University. In the first decade of the 19th century there were 3 book-shops, in the third decade - 5, in the fifth decade - 7 and in the seventh - 24. New book sale centres were formed in Kaunas ( in the third decade of the 19th century), in Suvalkai (in the fifth decade of the same century) and in 1853 the first and the only one book-shop was opened in a small towncalled Varniai in Lithuanian country side. But during all the period the main centre of book pub-lishing, printing and trade remained in Vilnius city.
Most off the book-shops were private. Private initiative charac-teristic for book publishing and printing activity was dominating in book trade as well. Combination of book publishing and trade was very effective in conditions of free market. Skilful Polish and Jewish business man were setting up big family firms which existed during all the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries and dominated in Lithuanian book printing, publishing and trade.
Competition between booksellers formed active position towards users, forced to look for new forms of trade activity organisation and stimulated book advertisement. Book-shops used different book trade forms such as selling books in book-shops, allowing users to book prin-tings in advance and to get them by post, establishing new temporary trade premises, using seasonal and street huckster's methods.
At that time first signs of book-shops specialisation started to appear. Some book-shops were selling only books written in Jewish when others - printings written in different languages, some book-shops traded with second-hand books when others were selling mostly new publications. Together with books one could buy notes, music instru-ments, pictures and so on (other goods). Nevertheless in those new type book trade institutions books were the main purchase.
The book-shop assortment was usually formed taking in to account dominant cultural needs of representatives of Polish-Lithuanian nobleman's, churchman's as well as needs of literate Jewish, Polish and Russian citizens and Lithuanian peasants who lived in the country side.
Books assortment was also influenced by books publishing repertory. In the middle of the 19th century Lithuania each year were published about 200 different book titles. Among them about 41,1% were in Jewish, 33,6% - in Polish, 8, 2% - in Lithuanian, 8, 5% - in Latin, 7, 2% - in Russian and 1, 4% -in other languages. Although the topical structure of publishing repertory is still not specially researched we would think that the main part of it was devoted to educational, religious, leisure time and information subjects.
The content of books for sale was controlled by tsarist Russia censorship institutions. The activity of censors was mostly influenced by changes of government policy in accepted Lithuanian. About three decades cultural and political originality of occupied countries were tolerated but from the year 1831 the cultural differences started being suppressed. This political and cultural suppression came out as especially strict censorship of Lithuanian and Polish books while stimu-lating the Slavonic language and culture . Fighting with increasing national movement tsarist Russia government started to use drastic measures and in 1864 Lithuanian and Polish printings in Latin characters were completely forbidden for forty years. From then the new period of Lithuanian history began.
The analysis of book trade catalogues shows, that book shops were trading not only with production of Lithuanian book publishers, bus as well with books from foreign countries. The biggest trade companies, as J. Zawadsky's, K. T. Glucksberg's. M. Orgelbrand's had close trade relations with Poland's and Russia's trade markets. They were ordering printings from Vienna, Leipzig, Paris and other Europe countries as well. In 1821 in J. Zawadzky's book-shop one could get about 20 000 title's of books on different subjects written in different languages. In the middle of the century M. Orgelbrand was offering to subscribe about 120 journals: 31 written in Polish, 53 - in French, 36 - in German languages.
Export of books was a characteristic feature of book trade firms mentioned above. They were establishing their book-shops filials in Russia and Poland. At that time books published in Lithuanian territory was not a rarity in Europe countries book markets.
In conditions of growing national consciousness correlations between languages in the fields of literature, cultural communication, press and book publishing had been changing in advantage to Lithua-nian language. In the middle of the 19th century more than a half of Lithuanian peasants who made up about 3/4ths of all population were literate. Lithuanian language was the native language of 1/3rd off nobleman's and 1/6th off town-dweller's. But Polish and Russian languages that dominated in public life predetermined that Lithuanian books in the beginning of the 19th century made up only 10% of book trade assortment and only 9% of all book-shops have Lithuanian books in sale.
In Lithuanian country side was blooming free seasonal and huckster's book trade. It was especially active in the West part of Lithuania, where a network of parochial, district and secondary schools was densely. Book-sellers were obtaining goods from wholesale trade institutions (book-shops and printing houses) and were selling them according to the commission contracts. Usually they benefited about 10% and some times even 20% from trade takings.
Free trade was especially popular in markets, during church's festivals and annual fairs days (for example, San George fair in Vilnius, San John fair in Kaunas, Siluvos fair in Zemaitija (Samogitia)). People from different villages and small province towns could buy there various books, such as ABCbooks, catechisms, prayer-books, calendars, fictions and other publication of mass demand mostly in Polish and Lithuanian languages. I would like to stress, that among those sellers together with other nationalities there were increasing number of peasants, clerks, teachers of Lithuanian nationality.
At that period one could buy books not only in the book-shops and free book trade institutions, but in printing houses and bookbinders shops as well. In the beginning of the century book trade was popular in Vilnius monasteries (bazilijonu, Pijoru, Misionieriu) printing offices. Poor book assortment and not very inventive trade methods were characteristic for that kind of sellers, so this tradition didn't take root in new established private printing houses.
At the period discussed the relations between binders and the book trade are not clear. There were no documents that would forbid binders to sell books, so we would think that their activity was influenced only by economic reasons.
The last but not least kind of booksellers were public and church organisations and private persons. Among them I could mention the most active members of democratic Lithuanian cultural movement S. Stanevicius, S. Daukantas who's activity was essential for the Lithuanian national book and culture. Book trade work of booksellers of that category was limited by didtribution of their own publications.
A price on a book printed in the 19th century was not marked. Various social, economic, and book printing factors, variety of book distribution methods caused differences in book prices, their dynamic and fluctuation. A price depended on used printing materials and work, expenses of printing and transportation. For example, prayer-book "Aukso altorius" printed os simple paper and bound in leather cost 45 copecks, printed on better paper and bound in leather with case - 65 copecks, printed on crank-shaft paper and bound in Morocco leather - rouble and 20 copecks. Prices of stitched books were less half than bounded books. The most expensive way of printings transportation was sending them by post.
Observance of a fixed book prices showed in book trade catalogues was characteristic feature of book-shops trade activity. Other merchants were selling books prised according to the economic situation in the market. At that period the average price of Lithuanian book was 20-35 copecks. With the same money in the market one could get 40-60 eggs or 3-6 pounds of meat or a bucket of sauerkraut (sau kraut) or 3 pounds of fish. In comparison with earlier times book became cheaper and affordable for bigger audience of readers.
In the 19th century an advertisement became an important field of book trade activity as a conclusion of expanding of book publishing and trade, and appearing competition between book traders. The main form of advertising were: Information about new book, that was printed in new periodicals, and specially prepared and published book trade catalogues. These catalogues became the most important source of information about book in sale. The catalogues were publishing almost by all book publishing and trade institutions. A lot of them (about 100) were prepared in J. Zawadzkis firm. In 1858 this firm issued the first Lithuanian book trade catalogue "Knygas zemaitiskas, isduotas kastu ir spaustuvi Jozapa Zavadzkia Vilniuje, o kurias gal liekvienas pirkti Varniuose, kniginycia to paties Jozapa Zavadzkia".
An innovation, characteristic in all spheres of life in the 19th century Lithuania, was appearing in book trade as well. The new tendencies in book trade of thet time had big influence on book evolution and that had big impact on growing level of education, increased an exchange of universal values of civilisation, stimulated modernisation of Lithuanian nation and it's culture.