The Role of Bibliology in the Forming of the Methodological Foundations or the Scientific Study of the Book Trade

A previously unknown paper of the outstanding Soviet bibliologist A.A. Govorov (1925—2003) is published, which was written in 1977 and is devoted to the methodology of scientific study of the theory and practice of the book trade. A.A. Govorov proposed specific ways and methods for scientific study of the book trade, relying on dialectics and the principle of historicism. He emphasized that the book trade differs from the trade of other goods by the most important way — the final purpose (dissemination of information by means of books), and the bibliology (as a science) is the theoretical basis of practice of book distribution. Despite the social and economic changes of recent decades, the article is interesting not only for the historians, but also for the contemporary specialists of bibliology.