The Involvement of Podillia in the European Book Trade Space of the first half - the middle of the 19th century (by the example of Belgian Publications)

Abstract

The research aim is to determine how Podillia was involved in the European booktrade space of the first half - the middle of the 19th century when there was no local stationary book trade and library service (by the example of Belgian publications). Methodology. A historical and bibliological analysis of the collection of Belgian publications from the library collection of the Valentyn Otamanovskyi Vinnytsia Regional Universal Scientific Library was carried out. The scientific novelty. A collection of Belgian publications from the era of active counterfeit printing (1815-1852) stored on Ukrainian territory, is described for the first time. By the example of Podillia, it was revealed that Ukrainian lands were considered as a legitimate zone of trade in counterfeit goods during the research period. Conclusions. Ignoring copyright by the Russian Empire, the traditional gallomania of the nobility, and the new capitalist models of the Belgian publishing business, contributed to the spread of its book production, although with a tendency to decline at the end of the 19th century. The consumers of Podillia had several reasons for purchasing Belgian products: 1) the main reason was the cheapness of books due to the innovative printing and business solutions of Belgian publishers; 2) publishers’ focus on the pleasure of leisure reading; 3) there was the purchase of existing publications (marketing efforts of businessmen to promote booksin different countries) in the absence of a local book trade; 4) interest in specific publications that were published only in Belgium vecause of censorship restrictions; 5) interest in original publications prepared by Belgian publishers. It seems that the publisher’s name was not important, people of Podillia focused on the author and specific works, but this thesis needs additional study.

Keywords

• belgian book, french-language book, belgian book publishing, counterfeitprinting, book trade, podillia.