Academic typography in the history of Russian art and enlightenment in the first half of the eighteenth century. In honour of the 300th anniversary of the russian academy of sciences

In this article the author explores the formation of the Russian academic printing industry. In accordance with the plans of Peter the Great, a printing house was established in St. Petersburg under the auspices of the newly founded Academy of Sciences, which is the direct predecessor of the modern Publishing House “Nauka”. In the first decades of its existence, the Academic Printing House became not only one of the most advanced enterprises of the time, but also an important educational centre. Its printers were eventually employed by other printing houses both in the capitals and throughout Russia. The Printing House was a subdivision of the Academy of Sciences and, fulfilling its immediate duties, was also involved in the educational process. Due to the lack of centralised art education in Russia at that time, the Printing House and its workshops became an educational institution in this field as well. Working in direct contact with it were the Chambers of Fine Arts, which brought together engravers, draughtsmen, and masters of typography. Prior to the establishment of the Academy of Arts in 1757, the Printing House and the associated Chamber of Drawing and School of Drawing were the most important centres of art education in Russia. The books and periodicals published in the Printing House in the first half of the eighteenth century, when it was the only centre of academic and popular scholarly printing in the Russian Empire, also played an outstanding educational role. The author traces the stages of formation of the Printing House’s traditions and presents its first projects. The author concludes that it was in the Academic Printing House and in those endeavours of the Academy of Sciences, in which the Printing House took an active part, that the foundations of the Russian system of secular education were laid.