Private initiative as a growth factor of Book publishing activity in Russia in the last third of the 18th century

Importance. A landmark event in the history of Russia in the last third of the 18th century was the development of private printing houses, which destroyed the state and church monopoly on printing publications. The work of publishing houses played a decisive role in satisfying the spiritual needs of the broad masses of the population, contributed to the secularization of the national book culture. At the same time, the richness and diversity of fiction, educational and scientific literature, produced both in Russian and in foreign languages, thoroughly influenced the emergence and dissemination of new information and facts, increased the level of education of all segments of the reading population. Despite the existence of extensive research on the book publishing of this period, there is a well-known imbalance in the description of the activities of famous domestic printers and their foreign colleagues. Meanwhile, it was foreign specialists (I.M. Hartung, J.J. Weitbrecht, etc.) who played a key role in opening the first private printing houses in Russia. The study of their activities contributes to the increment of knowledge on the Russian book culture history, allows you to consider unknown pages of Russian book publishing and book trade. Research Methods. The main sources of the study are the materials of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (Fund 17, Fund 248), as well as legislative acts and orders of that time that influenced the book trade. Results and Discussion. Being a characteristic feature of the development of information culture in the first half of the 18th century, censorship could not stop the transformative role of books in the history of Russia. As a result of the intensification of book printing in the country, the emergence of free book trade, the successful operation of new education models, interest in printed products has noticeably increased. Book business has ceased to be only a capital occupation and has become the property of the whole country. By allowing everyone to start printing houses at will, the state equated them with factories, which facilitated the processes of creating and developing their own printing business. Conclusion. The activity of private book publishers in Russia in the second half of the 18th century created opportunities for the formation of the national book market, filling it with various scientific, fiction and educational literature. Thus, the printers contributed to the dissemination of the widest knowledge among the Russian population, increased the variety and quality of the literature sold.