Publishing in national languages in the 19th century: the case of the Baltic region

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: 19 amžius; Estiškos knygos; Latviškos knygos; Lietuviškos knygos; Leidybos statistika; Knygos; Leidyba; Nacionalinės kalbos; Baltijos šalys (Baltic states); Latvija (Latvia); Estija (Estonia); 19th century; Estonian books; Latvian books; Lithuanian books; Publishing statistics; Books; Publishing; National languages; Baltic States; Lithuania; Latvia.

ENThe article presents the results of the analysis of book publishing statistics in Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian languages in the 19th century. The comparative research was conducted with reference to the most representative sources - the national retrospective bibliographies of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian books. After the identification of all the publications that were published annually from 1801 to 1855, the overall number of publications was calculated for each country. Furthermore, the publishing rates were evaluated for every decade in the three countries and additionally the rates of publications per 1,000,000 inhabitants in every decade were calculated and evaluated. The data presented in this article show that publishing dynamics in national languages varied in different countries of the Baltic region and in each case was determined by economic, social and cultural factors. In comparison to Lithuania, the environment for developing national books was more favourable in Estonia and Latvia. The results of this initial study can be used for further research of such nature. The bibliographic method, descriptive statistics (data collection, organisation and presentation), and comparative methods were used to analyse quantitatively the volumes of publishing, whereas statistical analysis method have been pointed out as prospective ones for assessing quantitative trends and turning points in publishing research. [From the publication]

• Komunikacija / Communication
• Istorija / History