Journal «Radianskyi Knyhar» (1929–1932) about problems of book quality of that time)

In this paper, the topic of publications on the quality of books, published on the pages of a specialized journal “The Soviet Bookseller”, which was issued in Kharkiv during 1929-1932, has been studied. It is emphasized that the quality of books was vie­wed based on the governmental policy of that time and with the consideration of the “ideo­logical consistency”, “political pungency” and conformity with the most topical needs of socialism building. It is pointed out that the journal reported about weeding out “pestiferous” publications from “the field of culture”.

It has been found that the scientific and practical value, understandability of content, and external and internal design were numbered by the authors of articles among the most essential quality parameters of a book. The publications, in which it is stressed that the type of book, its content, and language should correspond to its purpose of use, level and the needs of a particular group of readers it is targeted at, have been found. On this account, the publishers are recommended to cooperate with the readers as closely as possible, including through book stores and libraries.

It has been noted that the authors of the articles emphasized that the shortage of paper and its low quality made the dot sharp printing of text and illustrations impossible and lowered the readability of a book, while the outdated printing equipment and the low level of mechanization of printing houses caused the publishing of imperfections. It has been found that in “The Soviet Bookseller” the reliability of publications was discussed, and the publishing of bound books, primarily, of school textbooks and gift books for children, was pushed for, as well as their attractive external design. It has been identified that on the pages of the journal, the issue of standardizing publisher’s imprint of books was raised. It has been noted that the issues on introduction of printing standards and their ergonomic potential were discussed.

It has been summarized that about 60 publications of various genres, dedicated to the quality of printed matter, were published in “The Soviet Bookseller”. It has been no­ted that it is important to conceptualize and interpret the experience, documented on the pages of the journal, in order to reconstruct the overall picture of the development of the history of the book publishing industry and to improve the contemporary practice of creating books.

Keywords: quality of books, “Soviet Bookseller” (“Radianskyi Knyhar”), bib­lio­lo­gi­cal periodicals, artistic design of edition, printing performance of edition.

doi: 10.32403/0554-4866-2020-1-79-150-160