A short biography of Ivan Fedorov, the first printer, written for children and adults. The first printer Ivan Fedorov: a short biography for children and adults The first Russian first printer Ivan Fedorov

On March 1, 1564, the founder of mass printing, Ivan Fedorov (c. 1510-1583), together with Peter Mstislavets, completed work on the first Russian large-circulation printed book "Acts and Epistles of the Holy Apostles".

Literacy in Russia has existed for a long time, but the book came to our ancestors with the adoption of Christianity.

Ivan Fedorov studied at the University of Krakow. In his youth he lived and worked in Little Russia, was known as a cannon master. Upon arrival in Moscow, Ivan Fedorov found himself surrounded by Metropolitan Macarius and received the post of deacon in the Church of St. Nicholas Gostunsky in the Kremlin. He took part in the work of the commission for correcting handwritten church books (eliminating discrepancies and heretical insertions).

Printing in the territorially expanding Rus' was caused by the need to supply the churches under construction with liturgical literature with corrected canonical texts. The second reason was the need to prevent the spread of cheap and mass printed Uniate literature from the West, to put a barrier to Catholic expansion to the East. In 1563, by order of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich IV the Terrible, construction began in the capital of the State Printing House on the Nikolsky sacrum (now Nikolskaya Street near the Kremlin).

Ivan Fedorov quickly mastered the intricacies of typographic art in typography. On April 19, 1563, "cunning printers" Ivan Fedorov and his assistant Peter Mstislavets began work on their first book - the Acts and Epistles of the Holy Apostles. This work lasted about a year. On March 1, 1564, the first Moscow large-circulation printed book was dated by the first state printing house in Moscow. The first printer himself did a lot of editorial work on it, designed it according to all the rules of the printing art of that time. In this book, Ivan Fedorov made rich headpieces for each section, colorful vignettes at the top of the pages, initials (at the beginning of paragraphs), typed it in a semi-official font developed on the basis of a handwritten Moscow letter from the middle of the 16th century.

Following the "Acts of the Holy Apostles" Fedorov and Mstislavets published the Teaching Gospel, in 1565 - two editions of the "Clock" (Book of Hours). It began to be used as a teaching book for teaching reading. Circulations of several hundred copies were considered large at that time. But the attitude to the innovation sparked protest from a group of clergy. After all, the handwritten creation of liturgical books usually began solemnly as an important spiritual matter after prayers; the soulless printing press was perceived at first as something spiritless and suspicious. In addition, the work of monks-scribes became unprofitable, the press made it possible to print books faster and cheaper. Since the main defender of Ivan Fedorov, Metropolitan Macarius, died in 1563, the first printers were left without patronage. In 1566, a fire broke out in their printing house (possibly a consequence of arson), and they decided to leave Muscovy. Outside of Muscovite Rus were published - "Teaching Gospels", "Psalter" with "Hours" and the first Russian printed primer with grammar - "ABC" - "for the benefit of the Russian people." (The only copy of I. Fedorov's "ABC" was discovered in 1939, is now in the USA in the library of Harvard University.) In the city of Ostrog in Volyn, Fedorov published the famous "Ostrog Bible" - the first complete Bible in the Church Slavonic language. Printed in a large font, new for that time, on 628 sheets, it was a masterpiece of technical performance and artistic taste (about 300 copies of it have survived to this day). Ivan Fyodorov's boards with the type he developed for this book were kept by his followers for a long time after his death, and some of them were in working order for almost 200 years.
Ivan Fedorov was not only a pioneer printer, but also a political figure in Russia during the time of Ivan the Terrible. He possessed numerous and varied talents - he was a military engineer and inventor, a writer, an innovative printer. December 5, 1583 I. Fedorov died. He was buried in Lvov in the Holy Onufrievsky monastery. In 1977, the Fedorov Museum was opened here, but in 1990 the monastery fell into the hands of the Basilian monks, who liquidated this museum. In 1909, in the center of Moscow, near the Kitaygorodskaya wall, where in the 16th century the Tsar's Printing House was located, a monument to Ivan Fedorov was erected (sculptor S.M. Volnukhin). In 1998, at the Moscow courtyard of the Trinity-Seogievskaya Lavra, an icon was consecrated depicting Metropolitan Macarius and the first printer, Deacon Ivan Fedorov, next to a printing press - the first image of a printing press and a first printer on an Orthodox icon.

The name and basic facts of the biography of the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov are probably known to many erudite people. But the life of this man was much more difficult and exciting than taught in schools. We suggest that you familiarize yourself in more detail with how the first first printer in Russia lived and worked.

Historical realities

The biography of the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov should be viewed in the context of the era in which he lived. So, the 15th century is the period of the reign of the stern Ivan the Terrible. Russia lags significantly behind Europe, books are copied in the old fashioned way in monasteries by the monks. And in the West, printing presses have been in use for many years, which made painstaking work faster. Of course, to modern man, a massive structure - the invention of Johannes Gutenberg - will seem strange. The first printing press had beams that fastened it to the floor and ceiling, a heavy press, under the power of which the prints on the paper remained, as well as a set of letters - letters of the English alphabet in a mirror image. They were used to compose page layouts.

Ivan the Terrible, not wanting to lag behind Europe, ordered the development of the printing business, ordered a printing press, and Ivan Fedorov became the first employee of the old printing house.

The beginning of life

A short biography and interesting facts about the first printer Ivan Fedorov do not contain the exact date of birth. Therefore, researchers assume that he was born in the 20s of the 16th century. The place of birth is also shrouded in mystery, but they believe that this is Moscow: it was not for nothing that he signed himself as "Moskvitin". Information about his childhood and youth has not reached our days, which is understandable - when a person was just born, no one guesses that in the future his life will be of interest to descendants, therefore the facts are not recorded anywhere.

However, the name of Fedorov became known in 1564 - this is the date of birth of the Russian official printing press.

The first printed book

In the development of the culture of Russia, the merits of the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov are fully noted. In a short biography for children, attention is especially paid to his first book, which appeared after a month of painstaking work of a talented innovator and in many ways resembled a handwritten one. These are the Apostles, also known as the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles. It is distinguished by the following features:

• The presence of drop caps representing a large letter, the first in the section, exquisitely decorated with ornaments. There are 22 of them.
• The use of ornaments that make the book especially elegant and solemn.

Thanks to Fedorov's efforts, the book fully corresponded to the old Russian church traditions.

Follow-up activities

After the appearance of the first printed book, Ivan Fedorov's work continued. A year later, the "Chapel" was published. However, the innovators had to face fierce opposition from the monks, who did not accept printed books as such. The traditions turned out to be so strong that in the biography of the first printer Ivan Fedorov, the fact of the burning of the printing house and the need to leave Moscow are mentioned. However, the work continued.

Life in Zabludovo

The biography of the first printer Ivan Fedorov is especially interesting for children. It mentions that after leaving Moscow, he settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in Zabludovo, located on the territory of modern Poland. Thanks to the help of Hetman Chodkevich, who reacted favorably to the innovator, Fedorov set up the release of church books. In 1569, the "Teacher's Gospel" was published. Soon after this, the first printer parted with his friend and assistant Peter Mstislavets, but continued his beloved work. The Psalter from the Book of Hours was published. Further, difficult times begin in the biography of the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov. Due to illness, Chodkiewicz became disillusioned with publishing books, considering this occupation unnecessary, and refused to support the innovator. But the desire to do what he loved turned out to be stronger, and the difficulties did not break the will of this person.

Moving to Lviv

Left without the support of the hetman, the founder of the printing business moved to Lvov. He needed money to open a printing house, but no one was in a hurry to help. Nevertheless, at this moment, the biography of the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov becomes instructive: thanks to perseverance, he manages to get money and continue the business. The second edition of the famous "Apostle" was published in Lviv, which, of course, was inferior in artistic and professional terms to the first version, but still has great historical value. Here was also published "Azbuka", the first printed textbook in Russia.

The heyday of activity

From the short biography of the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov, we learn that, despite his willpower and efficiency, he could not get a stable profit, so financial difficulties forced the innovator to leave Lviv and move to the south-west of Russia. Here, under the patronage of Prince Konstantin Ostrog, the great man managed to publish the first complete Bible in Church Slavonic, the Ostrog Bible.

last years of life

Working in Ostrog helped Ivan Fedorov partially solve financial problems, so he got the opportunity to return to Lviv and start work on opening a new printing house. Alas, this was not destined to come true, in 1583 the first printer died. The new printing house was sold to usurers for debts, the eldest son and student of Ivan Fedorov tried to buy it out, but they did not have enough money. Typography in Russia fell asleep for 20 years, then to return with triumph.

A selection of interesting facts

• The first movable type printing press was invented by Gutenberg, a jeweler by trade. However, due to financial difficulties, the creator was forced to conclude an unprofitable contract with the usurer Fust, which is why for some time it was believed that the merit of printing belongs to the latter.
• If the name of the first printer Fedorov is heard by many, then few people know that it was he who began to separate words with spaces, which greatly facilitated reading. Before him, texts were written in one piece, the end of the sentence was highlighted by a dot.
• It was the first book printer who introduced some new letters and words.
• Even a short biography of the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov testifies to the fact that he was an incredibly educated and erudite person for his time, spoke several languages, and strove to bring his knowledge to the masses.
• Ivan Fedorov's assistant in the creation of printed books was his friend and associate Pyotr Mstislavets, about whose childhood and youth information has not been preserved to this day.
• The biography of the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov mentions several interesting events from his personal life. So, it is known that he was married twice.
• During the life of the first printer, there were no surnames, therefore Fedorov is, most likely, an abbreviated patronymic "Fedorovich". So, in the "Ostrog Bible" it is indicated that it was printed by John, Fyodorov's son.

A short biography of the first pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov is entertaining and instructive. This man, despite the fierce resistance of the clergy, managed to organize the publication of books, putting his whole soul into this business.

On March 11, 1564, 455 years ago, the first accurately dated Russian book "Apostle" was published.

It was the result of the works of Ivan Fedorov, one of the first Russian first printers (only about him there is sufficiently accurate information). Surnames in their current form in Russia have not yet taken root. Therefore, on the imprint of his publications and in individual business papers, Ivan signed differently: Ivan Fedorov ("Apostle", 1564), Ivan Fedorovich Moskvitin ("Psalter", 1570), Ivan, Fedorov's son, from Moscow ("Ostrozhskaya Bible ”, 1581). It is also interesting that, in addition to books, the pioneer printer was also a master of casting cannons and multi-barreled guns. The memory of Ivan Fedorov has survived to this day. In many cities of Russia and Ukraine there are streets named after Ivan Fedorov. And in 1909, next to the building of the Printing House in Moscow, a monument to Fedorov was erected.

The fate of the Russian pioneer printer is very interesting. How he was able to get from Moscow to the Russian Voivodeship of the Commonwealth and found a printing house there, how he printed the first book in Moscow, what problems he faced, - today we will try to find answers to these questions.

Ivan Fedorov

Monument to Ivan Fedorov at the Printing House in Moscow. Source: http://vovremyaono.ru

Any of us knows that in our time, the book is an easily accessible source of knowledge. We have no shortage of books, and it will take a few seconds to print any information on paper. Of course, at the dawn of book printing in Russia in the 16th century, everything was not so simple. This required not just an educated engineer, he also had to have a strong character. Ivan Fedorov became such a person.

There is no information about his childhood. However, through the efforts of the Soviet historian E.L. Nemirovsky, it was established that Ivan was born in 1510. The historian found documents confirming that Fedorov studied at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow from 1529 to 1532. After graduation, he became a deacon in the church of St. Nicholas Gostunsky, where he met Metropolitan Macarius, with whom he subsequently collaborated for a long time.

First books

The first edition of the "Apostle" in Moscow. Source: http://vovremyaono.ru

In 1552, the tsar decided to organize the production of printed books in Moscow. Some attempts to do this have been made before, but they were unsuccessful. For this, the Danish book printer Hans Messingheim, already a well-known master of his craft, was summoned to Moscow. Printing presses, spare parts for them and letters in Church Slavonic were brought from Poland. By 1556, they were completely assembled and installed in the Moscow Printing House, which has survived to this day. But even then we do not see the name of Fedorov. The installation of the machines and their adjustment was carried out by a man known as the first Russian engraver - Vasyuk Nikiforov. It was his works that adorned the first Russian books. Officially, the printing house begins work in 1563, receives generous funds from the budget. The tsar, appreciating the work, was satisfied and began to personally patronize the printing house.

Already next year, two books "The Apostle" and "The Book of Hours" were published, inextricably linked with the name of Ivan Fedorov. The books had imprint where his name was spelled out. It is believed that all this time Fedorov was a student of Messingheim, he was appointed to study by the tsar on the advice of Metropolitan Macarius. It is no coincidence that the first edition was a book of a religious nature. In those days, one of the main tasks of the church was education. And all the textbooks were somehow connected with religious scriptures.

This is how the first printing presses looked. Source: https://www.pinterest.ru/

It is known that at this time Fedorov also faced problems. The printing yard burned several times. The fires were started by monks who were copyists of books and feared that they would soon become unnecessary, or the price of their services would plummet. But Fedorov nevertheless was not frightened, every time he restored the printing house and continued to work.

International Master of Typography

Monument to Ivan Fedorov in Lviv. Source: https://www.pinterest.ru/

In 1568, by decree of Tsar Fedorov, he moved to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. On the way, Ivan stops in the town of Zabludovo, located in the Grodnyansky Povet. He was sheltered by the former military leader Grigory Khodkevich. Having learned about what Fedorov was doing, Khodkevich, as an acting statesman, asked the pioneer printer to help with the opening of a local printing house. The opening of the Zabludov printing house took place in the same year. After printing several test "books" (each of which had no more than 40 unnumbered pages and no imprint), employees of the Zabludovskaya printing house, under the leadership of Fedorov, publish their first and, in fact, their only work - the book "The Teacher's Gospel". It happened in 1568-1569. After that, the publishing house stopped working, because, according to Chodkevich, there were more important things to do. By these words, he meant changes in the civil and political life of the country associated with the signing of the Union of Lublin in 1569, which led to the unification of Lithuania and Poland into a single country - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Another edition of the "Apostle".

Probably every Russian has heard a lot about the famous book printer Ivan Fedorov. The biography of this truly amazing person is taught in history and literature lessons. Our article will provide detailed information about the life and work of Ivan Fedorov with many interesting facts.

The origin of Fedorov

The biography of Ivan Fedorov is filled with many interesting moments and amazing facts. The hero of our article lived during the time of Ivan the Terrible, and therefore his fate can be called sad. The talented book printer and publicist was forced to leave the country because of the strongest pressure from the tsarist government.

The exact name of Ivan Fedorovich has not been determined. The concept of a surname was not yet available on the territory of the Russian state of the 16th century, and therefore the printer could sign everywhere in different ways. Most often, the ending in traditional for Moscow Russia was used -ow(Fyodorov's son). However, in the Psalter of 1570, the printer identified himself as Ivan Fedorovich.

The biography of Ivan Fedorov originates between 1510 and 1530. There are still no exact data on the place and date of birth of the printer. At the same time, Ivan himself often pointed out that Moscow is "his homeland and fatherland." Living in the Principality of Lithuania, Fedorov added the word "Moskvitin" to his name.

Fedorov's life

Ivan's biography is not well known. Scientists are still trying to determine the place and date of birth of the famous publicist. It has been suggested that Fedorov studied at the University of Krakow, located on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Some historians even claim that they saw the name of Ivan Fedorov in the lists of German educational institutions.

In the early 1530s, Ivan Fyodorovich joined the entourage of the Russian Metropolitan Macarius. Together with him, Ivan arrived in Moscow, where he received the post of deacon in the Kremlin church of St. Nicholas Gostunovsky. In 1553 Fedorov decided to start building the country's first printing house. It was here that he began work together with his assistant Peter Mstislavets.

Some scholars believe that Fedorov had a wife. She, according to historians, died in a fire. Perhaps it was because of this that Ivan was excommunicated from the ministry in the church: widowers did not have the opportunity to be in the ranks of the clergy.

The entire biography of Ivan Fedorov consists of printing and ministry to the Russian Church. What exactly did the hero of our article print, and what content did the books published in the 16th century have?

Printing house in Moscow

Before starting their work, Pyotr Mstislavets and Ivan Fedorovich decided to prepare a single font for all books. For this, a semi-ustav was taken - a sample of handwriting in Greek and Slavic writings. It is a fairly loose typeface, with small cuts and even lettering.

The first printed book was "The Apostle", the content of which will be discussed a little later. Next came the "Watchmaker", dating back to 1565. It was according to the "Chasovnik" that many Russian people learned to read and write; we can say that the book was intended for children.

The biography of Ivan Fedorov almost ended in the early 1570s. Immediately after the release of "Chasovnik" the printer had to leave Moscow. What were the reasons for that?

Attack on typography

Does the biography of Ivan Fedorov contain facts of relations with the Russian Tsar? According to some reports, Ivan IV, who ruled at that time, knew about the printing masters and generously financed their printing house. An entire territory was developed in Moscow - the so-called "Printing House". However, good relations with the king did not save book printers from attacks from ignorant people.

Historians have recorded the fact of the burning of the printing house, which occurred shortly after the release of the "Chapel". English diplomat Giles Fletcher, who was at that time in Moscow, explained the arson by the reluctance of the clergy to spread education throughout the country. Nevertheless, engraving boards and fonts have survived, which Ivan Fedorov hastened to take away from the country.

There is also an opinion that Fedorov and Mstislavets were competitors for the scribal monks. The prices for their labor began to gradually decrease, because the printing process was much more profitable.

Abroad

The biography of the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov is not over. Together with his faithful assistant Peter Mstislavets, Ivan goes to the Lithuanian principality of Velikov. Here the printers were kindly received by King Sigismund II Augustus. Hetman Chodkiewicz helped Ivan and Peter to establish a printing house in the Lithuanian estate of Zabludovo. The first book printed by Russians abroad was called "The Teacher's Gospel." She came out in 1568. This is a collection of gospel texts with different teachings, interpretations and additions.

Two years later, the "Psalter with the Book of Hours" was published. It must be said that this is the most important moment in the biography of the first printer Ivan Fedorov. It was from the Psalter that many people of the 16th century learned to read and write.

A page of one of Fedorov's books looked like the photo below.

In 1569, the famous Union of Lublin was concluded - the procedure for the unification of Lithuania and Poland into a single state of the Commonwealth. This historical moment played an important role in the biography of the printer Ivan Fedorov. Hetman Chodkiewicz, upset because of the signing of the Union, fell seriously ill. He began to develop mental disorders, due to which funding for the printing house was cut off. A little later, Lithuanian officials considered printing unnecessary at all, and the premises were taken away from Ivan and Peter.

In Lviv

For children, a short biography of Ivan Fedorov will be especially useful: the life story of a long-suffering printer, who did so much for education and the book business, ended in a rather deplorable way.

The hero of our article was forced to change his place of residence for the third time. This time Ivan and Peter went to Lvov. The road was difficult, a plague epidemic began. Upon reaching the city, the printer discovered the problem. Both in Moscow and in Zabludovo, he lived at the expense of patrons. There were not so many people in Lvov who were ready to finance printing. Poor townspeople, impressed by the ordeal of Ivan and his assistant Peter, helped the printers.

In 1573 the second edition of The Apostle was published. The afterword in the book became more extensive and emotional, some mistakes were corrected. For the first time, Ivan Fedorov's own mark appeared on the flyleaf. A little later, "ABC" was published - a book designed specifically for teaching children.

The biography of Ivan Fedorov is truly amazing. If the tsar or a wealthy philanthropist could not properly finance the useful work of a printer, then ordinary townspeople and poor priests were ready to constantly support Fedorov's work. It was in Lvov that the hero of our article published most of his works.

In Ostrog

In 1575, the famous meeting between Ivan Fedorov and Prince Konstantin Ostrog, the owner of the large Volyn estate Ostrog, takes place. Constantine needed educational literature for an educational institution that was built by the prince. A short biography of Ivan Fedorov impressed Konstantin. The prince just needed an educated person capable of equipping a local printing house. For some time the book printer worked in the Dermansky monastery, and later moved to Ostrog.

In 1577, Ivan went to Turkey on behalf of Prince Constantine. The printer was about to purchase a Greek copy of the Bible. For a year and a half Fedorov wrote the famous "Ostrog Gospel". The Greek and Moscow Gennadiev Bibles were taken as a model.

By the beginning of the 80s, the biography of the printer Ivan Fedorov ends. At the end of his life, the hero of our article was versatile enlightened and trained in many crafts. In addition to his typographic activity, Fedorov cast cannons, made weapons and engaged in other crafts.

A short biography of Ivan Fedorovich is described in many historical sources. According to various testimonies, the book printer worked in Vienna, Dresden, Krakow and other European cities. He died in Lvov in 1583.

Printing technology

At the beginning of his publishing career, Ivan Fedorov was looking for a typeface. The semi-unit was taken as a basis, which had to be transferred to the matrix.

Font making is a very laborious job. In their Moscow printing house, Peter and Ivan worked with matrix and metal. First, convex shapes in the form of letters were carved into a solid sheet of metal. The text was printed on the soft metal copy, which was the matrix. Metal was poured into the molds, after which letters were set. This is a very time-consuming and highly precise work that requires a lot of patience and a lot of effort.

In 1983, a Soviet stamp was issued with the image of Ivan Fedorov.

There is not much information about the printing press of the 16th century. Only a few sources describing a short biography of Ivan Fedorovich provide some information about the printing business. The printing house itself was called a pantry. The teredor is a printer. The assistant to the worker who made heels or applied paint was called a batyr worker. Pyam is the top board of the printing press. A marzan was placed under it - a block for marking the fields in the book. Punson played the role of a block for engraving letters in the matrix. The matzah, a special bag, contained horsehair for dyeing. The sheets themselves lay on the tympanum - a quadrangular frame.

The weight of the entire machine was approximately 104 kg. Initially, Fedorov used only two typefaces. A little later, Russian printing houses accumulated as many as six different types of writing.

Artworks

It is worth briefly describing the main books published by Ivan Fedorov. Brief biographies of the saints (lives) were contained in the work "The Apostle", published in 1563. Surprisingly, the pages of the book coincide with the modern A4 format. Each page contained 25 lines.

The 1565 "watchmaker" was a collection of prayers. A little later, it was supplemented with the names of the saints, their short biographies for children. Ivan Fedorov published "The Chapel" as a life of the saints and a prayer book, according to which many learned to read and write.

The coin with the image of Ivan Fedorov is highly valued by numismatists.

"Primer" in 1574 consisted of 80 pages of alphabet and grammar. The original of the book is deposited at Harvard University in the USA.

The famous book printer published many other books, as well as additional editions to the main works. The biography of the hero of our article is truly rich, full of interesting moments and amazing facts.

Ivan Fedorov - Russian pioneer printer

Introduction

Ivan Fedorov

1. The life of Ivan Fedorov

2. Printing

3. Printing technique

First books

1 Apostle

2 Hourly

3 Primer

4 Second edition of Ivan Fedorov's primer

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

When did the first printed book appear in Russia? It appeared on March 1, 1564 in Moscow in the state printing house, which was founded by Ivan IV and headed by the Russian first printer Ivan Fedorov. Full title of the book Acts of the Apostles, Epistles of the Council and St. Paul's Epistles , but its short name "Apostle" is better known.

If you try to briefly tell about his life, you will get something like this: Fedorov Ivan was born around 1510, died in 1583, the founder of book printing in Russia and Ukraine. In 1564 in Moscow, together with P. Mstislavets, he published the first Russian dated printed book "Apostle". Later he worked in Belarus and Ukraine. In 1574 he published in Lvov the first Slavic "Alphabet" and a new edition of the "Apostle". In 1580-81 in Ostrog published the first complete Slavic Bible.

Let us dwell in more detail on the biography of Ivan Fedorov, on his contribution to the development of printing, consider the printing technique and the first books published by him.

1. Ivan Fedorov

1 The life of Ivan Fedorov

Ivan Fedorov, real name Ivan Fedorovich Moskovitin, is the founder of book printing in Russia and Ukraine. Scientists have not been able to establish the exact date of birth of Ivan Fedorov. It is believed that he was born around 1510. Almost nothing is known about the early years of the first printer. Some historians have suggested that he studied at the University of Krakow, others mention his name, found in the lists of students in German educational institutions.

In the 1530-1550s, apparently, he belonged to the entourage of Metropolitan Macarius, and with him came to Moscow, where he took the post of deacon in the Kremlin church of St. Nicholas Gostunsky - one of the most prominent in the Moscow hierarchy.

In 1553, John IV ordered the construction of a special house for a printing house in Moscow, but the latter was opened only in 1563, when the first Russian printers, Ivan Fedorov and Peter Mstislavets, began to work there. Two years later they finished printing The Apostle. Immediately after the release of "Apostol", persecution of printers began by scribes, and Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets had to flee to Lithuania, where they were warmly received by Hetman Khotkevich, who founded a printing house on his estate Zabludove. Together with Ivan Fedorov, his son Ivan also left Moscow, who devoted his whole life to his father's work. By that time, Ivan Fedorov was already a widower. Some scholars believe that his beloved wife died in the fire. The proof that Ivan Fyodorov was widowed in Moscow is his transfer from the post of deacon to work on the arrangement of a printing house. The fact is that the clergy usually removed the ministers-widowers from the church.

The first book printed in the Zabludov printing house by Ivan Fedorov and Peter Mstislavets was The Teaching Gospel (1568). Later, Ivan Fedorov moved to Lvov in order to continue the printing business, and here in 1574 in the printing house he founded he published the second edition of "Apostle".

A few years later he was invited to his place by Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky to the city of Ostrog, where he printed, on the instructions of the prince, the famous "Ostrog Bible", the first complete Bible in the Slavic-Russian language. Soon after that, in December 1583, the "Drukar Muscovite" died on the outskirts of the city of Lvov, in dire poverty.

ivan fedorov printed book

1.2 The first printed book in Russia

ivan fedorov printed book

Based on the testimony of the first printer, it is believed that the printing house in Moscow was opened in 1563. To start printing, Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets made and cast one typeface using a half-ustav drawing. Making a typeface is a laborious job. At first, a matrix was made - a convex shape for each letter was cut out in hard metal, a copy of it was made by imprinting it on a softer metal, the resulting recessed shape was called a matrix. By pouring metal into it, letters were obtained in the required quantity. Then, from these letters, a text was typed, which required jewelry precision to observe the spacing between letters and words. The Apostle was published as a perfect work of printed art.

Researchers found that the text of the "Apostle" differs from the handwritten "Apostles" common at that time. This could only mean one thing - the text was thoroughly edited. Scientists admit that it was edited either in the circle of Metropolitan Macarius, or by the first printers Ivan Fedorov and Peter Mstislavets themselves.

The second book published by Ivan Fedorov's Moscow printing house was The Chasovnik, published in two editions in 1565. The first of them was printed on August 7, 1565 and completed on September 29, 1565. The other was printed from September 2 to October 29. They learned to read from this book. We do not know of any other books published by Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets in Moscow. But they most likely existed, since some of them are mentioned by the 18th century bibliographer Bishop Damascene (1737-1795).

Unfortunately, soon after the publication of The Chasovnik, Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets had to leave Moscow. Persecuted by ill-wishers, they found shelter in the principality of Lithuania in Zabludovo. Who exactly was the enemy of the first printers, we do not know. In the afterword to the "Apostle" one can find the following lines describing the reasons for leaving Moscow: wishing to turn good into evil and destroy God's work in the end, as happens in the custom of malevolent, unscientific and unsophisticated people who have no skill in grammatical subtleties and have no spiritual intelligence, but in vain utter an evil word ... This drove us out of the land, the fatherland and our people and forced them to move to foreign unfamiliar countries. "

A large Lithuanian land magnate Grigory Aleksandrovich Chodkevich invited printers to his estate Zabludovo (near Bialystok) to set up a printing house there and print books to supply Orthodox churches with them. The first book published in Zabludovo was "The Teaching Gospel." This book differed in many respects from the Moscow editions. The presence of a detailed title page, a preface, and not an afterword, which was written by Chodkiewicz himself - these are the main differences of this book. It should be noted that in the preface Khodkevich mentions the first printers with great respect, calling them by their first name and patronymic Ivan Fedorovich Moskvitin and Pyotr Timofeevich Mstislavets, whereas in Moscow they were called people of common rank.

The Teaching Gospel was published with the same perfection as the Moscow Apostle, but it became the last book that Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets published jointly. On this, their paths in life parted. Pyotr Mstislavets left for Vilna, where he continued the business of printing. The last book published in Zabludovo was The Psalter with the Book of Hours (1570).

In 1569, the Union of Lublin was concluded, which finally consolidated the unification of the Polish-Lithuanian state, after which relations with Moscow worsened, and Orthodoxy began to gradually be expelled from the state. It is clear that in such conditions, the educational activities of Ivan Fedorov became impossible. Chodkevich presented Fedorov with a village that could feed him, but the first printer did not want to leave his favorite business. And then, together with his son, and possibly with other workers of the printing house, Ivan Fedorov moved to Lviv.

The road was difficult: a plague epidemic began in the area that had to be crossed. But even reaching Lviv, Ivan Fedorov found himself in completely different conditions than he had been up to now. If in Moscow the printing house existed on state funds, and in Zabludovo on the funds of a philanthropist, then in Lvov it was necessary to find either wealthy people or turn to the church. Ivan Fedorov told in detail about his ordeals in the afterword to the "Apostle", which he nevertheless published in Lvov. And he was helped by poor priests and poor townspeople. He received help from people who understood the great importance of the book.

In February 1573, Ivan Fedorov began printing the second edition of The Apostle. The new edition was distinguished by a more extensive and emotional afterword. At the end of the book, a whole page is occupied by the typographic stamp of Ivan Fedorov. On the one hand, the coat of arms of the city of Lvov is placed in a rich ornament, on the other - the sign of Ivan Fedorov, which appears in all subsequent editions. At the end of the book, there is an afterword printed on 9 pages, which amazes in its content and form. By itself, it is a literary monument. From it it becomes obvious that the author's acquaintance with the works of Maxim the Greek, Andrei Kurbsky, "Stoglav", as well as the works of his contemporaries.

In the same year as the "Apostle" Ivan Fedorov published the "ABC", in the afterword to which he writes that he folded this book "for the sake of early infant learning" and lists the sources from which he took the texts. The only copy of this book in 1927 was found in Rome, now this rarity is in the United States.

In 1575, Ivan Fedorov's famous meeting with Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich Ostrozhsky, the owner of the large Ostrog estate (a city in Volyn, northeast of Lvov), took place. This feudal lord belonged to the Orthodox Church and supported the Ukrainian national movement. Wealth helped Ostrozhsky to pursue his policy and create educational institutions on his estate. To achieve this goal, he gathered in his estate highly educated people who were engaged in teaching and literary activities. Ivan Fyodorov was just the person he really needed, since there was an acute shortage of a printing house in Ostrog to carry out educational activities. Ivan Fedorov, or simply Drukar, as he was called in Ukraine, was the only person with the Cyrillic script.

But the first printer did not immediately start printing books in a new location. First, Ostrozhsky appointed him the steward of the Derman monastery, located on the lands of the prince. But the service weighed on the artistic nature of the pioneer printer. Books - that was what occupied him entirely. And at the end of 1576 he was again in Lvov, where he was summoned by numerous cases related to book printing. According to various surviving documents, it was established that at that time Ivan Fedorov had extensive business connections.

In 1577 he went to Turkey. It is believed that the prince of Ostrog sent him to buy the Greek Bible. In 1579 Ivan Fedorov finally moved to Ostrog. That was the time when work was underway there to prepare the text of the "Bible" for printing. At first, the scholars who lived in Ostrog wanted to translate the Bible into Ukrainian, but then they abandoned this idea, fearing inaccuracies in translation that could distort the content. The Moscow Gennadievsky manuscript was taken as a model for the Bible. The printing of the book lasted for a year and a half. From Lvov, the first printer managed to bring only the large Moscow type of "Apostle", with which he printed his last books. But for the "Bible" this font was unsuitable - the book would have turned out to be too big. Therefore, for printing the book, two new fonts were cast: one for the main text, the other, very small, for notes. And for the title pages a large Moscow one was used. The afterwords and prefaces were printed in parallel with the Church Slavonic Greek script. The Ostroh Bible is a very large book with 628 leaves. The text is printed in two columns, which was a new technique in Russian and Ukrainian books. The last page contains an afterword indicating the date of publication and a typographical sign. Unlike the early books of Ivan Fedorov, there is no indication of the beginning of the work in the "Bible"; scientists assume that it was started either in 1579 or in 1580.

In May 1581, Andrei Rymsha's "Chronology" was published. The author of the book is believed to have been from the Ostroh Higher School. Scientists suggest that a new edition of the "Azbuka" was published in Ostrog, which was reprinted several times. This idea is suggested by two "ABCs" in England - in the Cambridge and Oxford libraries.

In 1582, Ivan Fedorov returned to Lvov, bringing with him 400 copies of the Bible. The Lviv printing house of the first printer was mortgaged for a large sum, and Ivan Fedorov had no money to buy it. And he decided to found a new printing house, but these plans were no longer destined to come true.

1.3 Printing technique

No detailed sources have survived about the printing press for the first books, it is only known that it was made according to Italian models. It must be said that all the typographical terminology that survived until the middle of the 19th century was entirely borrowed from the Italians.

For example:

teredor (printer) - tiratore;

batyr (printed or applied paint on letters) - battitore;

pian, or pyam (top board of the printing press) - piano;

marzan (a bar inserted into the printing form where the margins in the book should remain) - margine;

punson (steel bar with a letter engraved on the end for punching dies) - punzone;

matzah (leather bag stuffed with wool or horsehair, with a handle for printing paint on letters) - mazza;

tympanum (a quadrangular frame at the machine, which was covered with parchment and a printed sheet was placed on it) - timpano;

shtanba (printing establishment) - stampa.

Among the typographic terms of that time, only one German word is found - drukarnya (typography). It was brought to Russia from the southwestern printing workshops. The same terms were used in all European printing houses.

The only source of information about Fedorov's press is, perhaps, only the inventory of his printing property, made shortly after the death of the printer in Lvov. There was such a description: "a printing press with all the accessories made of wood, ... a large cast copper screw with a nut and plate, which press the letters, and a frame in which the letters are placed." It can be concluded that its size was relatively small, since the indicated weight of all copper parts in total is about 104 kg.

The earliest surviving documentation of the Moscow Printing House dates back to the first half of the 17th century. The most important evidence of the printing technique used by the first Russian printing house is the Fedorov editions themselves. Considering with a high degree of probability the fact that the equipment and techniques did not change, at least for 100 years after the death of the great master, scientists were able to reconstruct the fonts, outlines of forms for illustrations, methods of typesetting, typesetting and printing, as well as the binding technique of Russians early printed books.

So, the number of fonts at the disposal of the Anonymous Printing House was 5. In the very first of them, for the set of the narrow-font Four Gospels of 1553, the letters were cast together with superscripts. This technique is borrowed from Western Europe. Starting with the next edition - the Lenten Triodi in 1555 - letters and superscripts were already cast separately (historians consider this to be indirect evidence of the appearance of Ivan Fedorov in the Anonymous Printing House).

Moskvitin himself used 6 fonts in his work. All Moscow, Zabludov and Lvov editions are typed in Moscow typefaces imitating the semi-statutory letter of the 16th century. At first, this font only had two sizes. Later, in Ostrog, Fedorov cast two more enlarged sizes and a Greek font in two sizes.

All the drawings for the typefaces and punches were made by the master himself. In the XVII century. the engraving of the punches was already the responsibility of the cutter engravers. This was a very laborious task - it took several months to prepare the punches for the entire type. In the printing yard, they strictly ensured that the hand at the chisel was firm.

By hitting a hammer, pressing the end of the punch with the letter into a copper bar, we obtained dies for casting letters. Only an experienced craftsman could calculate the force of the blow so that the deepening was the same everywhere.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. The secret of the typographic alloy was not yet known to Russian printers, so the fonts were cast from tin. The characters of the font were kept at the cash registers, but their device was not very convenient, which greatly slowed down the typing speed.

To obtain book illustrations and ornaments, wooden boards, most often from pear wood, were engraved. It was necessary to saw it on boards along the trunk. The drawing for the carving was made by the flag bearers (artists who painted ceremonial editions with paints and gold). Carving a mirror image on a board was called "obronny" carving. It took only 2-3 months to make a board for one engraving.

At first, two people worked at the printing press - a batyr worker and a teredor worker. It is quite obvious that in the process of creating the first Moscow editions Fedorov and Mstislavets shared these positions among themselves.

Black ink for printing was brewed in the printing house itself from soot, but expensive cinnabar was bought. The most difficult process was two-color printing. The anonymous publications used the Moscow printing technique in one pass. At the same time, the entire form was covered with black paint, and from the letters intended for red prints, it was carefully washed, and cinnabar was applied with a brush. Later they switched to two-pass printing, first from two different forms, and then from one. All Fedorov editions were printed in the last way.

Before printing, the paper was moistened on a wet cloth to help it absorb the ink better.

The finished prints were collected in a notebook and each was knocked out with a wooden mallet, preventing an increase in thickness at the spine. All notebooks collected together were leveled in a vice and then cut off. In ceremonial editions (for an offering to the king or patriarch), the sawn-off was gilded or painted with paint. For sewing, hemp threads in several folds were most often used. Binding covers were boards covered with fabric or leather. As a rule, calf or sheep skins were used, less often horse and goat skins.

Leather binding was often embossed with a special stamp.

The book creation was completed by attaching clasps and corner plates to the binding. It was these clasps that helped prolong the life of works of printing art.

With the exception of turning the machine screw to press the printed sheet onto the form, all operations were done manually. But there was also editorial, proofreading, literary and artistic work! What a titanic work the first printers put into their work! Day after day for a year, they selflessly moved towards the embodiment of their daring plan. They were helped in this not only by talent, but also by high strength of mind.

2. First books

2.1 "Acts of the Apostles" (1564)

The first printers actually created a model that became the basis for subsequent editions of Russian typographers. Blocks of text on a page have 25 lines, with all lines aligned to the right. Surprisingly, such blocks (21 x 14 cm) almost coincide with the size of a modern A4 page. The size of the font, its slight semi-joint tilt to the right, the length of the line, the distance between the lines - everything is convenient for eye movement and creates comfort when reading. According to all the rules for preparing a typographical edition, the Apostle is provided with headers and footers, subscript and superscript references. The book was printed in two colors. However, in the famous Fedorov ornament of headpieces from grape leaves and cones, developed on the basis of plant ornaments in a manuscript book, only black was used. Intertwining leaves, creating a sense of volume, look no less elegant than multicolored ones. The talented typographer subtly felt the beauty and grace of black and white images.

Having creatively reworked the ornamental techniques of the school of Theodosius Isograf, the master consolidated the so-called old-printed style in book graphics. It should be noted that, at the same time, the ornaments in Fedorov's books always have a service purpose: they do not displace the text into the background, but, on the contrary, highlight and decorate it, attracting the reader's attention. No less remarkable is the miniature, traditionally included in publications of this kind. In the Old Russian apostles, the author was usually depicted writing a book. The Apostle Luke does not write at Fedorov's, but holds a book in his hands. The figure of the evangelist has no background - it seems to float in the air. The writing utensils have been left aside on the table. And the book is held not by the scribe, but by the printer. With this technique, the artist immortalized the memory of himself as the first creator of the Russian printed book. Of course, the very first printed book could not be perfect. Some mistakes in page numbering suggest that the conditions in the printing house were not easy. Probably, it was necessary to disassemble the set to release the font for the following texts.

2.2 Watchmaker (1565)

This pocket edition is a collection of prayers, according to which they conducted divine services and taught children to read and write. Ivan Fyodorov's chapters and primers were already types of mass and educational books. They were in great demand and were read out to the bone, so they withstood more than one edition. It must be said that Moskvitin retained his desire to create books for teaching until the end of his life. The first printer continued his search for a book type later in Ukraine. In particular, the alphabetic subject index "A collection of things that are most needed in brief, soon for the sake of finding in the book the New Testament from the words of the alphabet" (1580), which can be considered the first collection of aphorisms in the history of Russian literature, was not typical for the typographer.

2.3 Primer (1574)

The very first primer was printed by Ivan Fedorov, the founder of book printing in Russia, in Lvov in 1574. Today there is a single copy of this book in the world, which, fortunately, has been perfectly preserved. It belongs to the US Harvard University Library. It was acquired in 1950, and only in 1955 the world saw a complete photocopy of a previously unknown textbook. It is curious that the ABC book came to Harvard from the Paris collection of S.P. Diaghilev.

The book has no title, therefore it is also called the alphabet and grammar. It was compiled from five 8-sheet notebooks, which corresponds to 80 pages. Each page has 15 lines. A primer was written in the Old Church Slavonic language. Some of its pages are decorated with headpieces characteristic of Ivan Fedorov's publications in the form of ornaments of intertwining leaves, buds, flowers and cones. The first page is occupied by 45 lowercase Cyrillic letters. Moreover, the alphabet is given in forward and reverse orders, as well as in a breakdown of 8 columns. Probably, this technique of repeating the alphabet helped to better memorize.

The alphabet uses a literal method inherited from the Greeks and Romans, which involves memorizing syllables. First, there were two-letter combinations with each vowel in alphabetical order (beeches - az = ba), then the same syllables with the addition of a third letter (beeches - rtsy - az = bra). Here az, beeches, rtsy are the letters of the Cyrillic alphabet.

In the section "A and this ABC from the book of osmopartny, that is, grammar" the author placed samples of verb conjugation for each letter of the alphabet, starting with "b". Here are the forms of the passive voice of the verb biti.

The section "On the basis of the prosody and still two lying behold is imperative and legendary" gives information about the stresses and "aspirations" in words. And the section "On Orthography" contains separate words for reading, written in full or in abbreviated form (under the "title" sign - a superscript sign that means skipping letters).

The alphabet ends with an acrostic. In the alphabetical acrostic (Greek "edge of the line"), or the alphabetical prayer, each line that conveys the content of one of the religious truths begins with a certain letter. If you look at the left edge of the lines from top to bottom, you get the alphabet. So the Holy Scriptures were remembered, and the alphabet was consolidated.

The second part of the primer is entirely devoted to the reading material. These are not only prayers, but also excerpts from the parables of Solomon and the letters of the Apostle Paul, which, as it were, give advice to parents, teachers and students.

On the last page there are 2 engravings: the coat of arms of Lviv and the publishing mark of the first printer.

Ivan Fedorov himself carefully selected the material for inclusion in his first primer. In the afterword about his role as a compiler, he wrote: "I write to you, not from myself, but from the divine apostles and God-bearing saints, the father of teaching ... from grammar and little something for the sake of early infant learning." Some researchers compare the work of creating this primer with a scientific feat. After all, Ivan Fedorov showed himself not only as an outstanding master of book business, but also as a talented teacher. For the first time, the alphabet tried to introduce elements of grammar and counting into the process of learning to read (part of the text was divided into small numbered paragraphs). In addition, the children's textbook contains teachings about education, which must be done "in mercy, in prudence, in humility, in meekness, longsuffering, accepting each other and bestowing forgiveness." The first shoots of humanistic pedagogy were an unconditional innovation for medieval Russia. And a modest little book for elementary literacy training went far beyond the usual alphabet, and was the beginning of a whole era, which is studied by literalism.

2.4 Second edition of the primer by Ivan Fedorov (1578)

"The book in Greek" Alpha Vita ", and in Russian" Az Buki ", the first for the sake of teaching children", was published in 1578 in the town of Ostrog. Having left Lvov, Moskvitin (that was the name of the first printer - a native of Moscow) founded a printing house in the family estate of the Kiev governor, Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich Ostrozhsky. The ABC is called Ostrog. It is known from two surviving copies - in the Royal Library of Copenhagen and the city library in Gotha (Germany).

The book is richly decorated. In addition to headings and endings, headings made in ligature have already appeared, as well as drop caps - the first letters of a paragraph one or several lines high, made in the form of an ornament. Repeating the structure of the first edition, the alphabet, in addition to Slavic texts, also includes Greek ones. At the same time, paragraph numbering and Cyrillic numbers at the end of the page have been removed.

But the most remarkable difference between this alphabet is that at the end of it Ivan Fedorov first published a magnificent monument of Slavic literature. This is "The Legend of How Saint Cyril the Philosopher Compiled the Alphabet in the Slovenian Language, and Translated Books from the Greek into the Slovenian Language", created in the 9th century. Chernorizets the Brave.

According to him, Ivan Fedorov's whole life was devoted to "scattering and distributing spiritual food around the world." The Ostroh alphabet once again confirms this - wherever Moskvitin founded a printing house, he published books for teaching reading and writing everywhere.

Conclusion

The theme of enlightenment, albeit "divine", runs through all the afterwords. Moskvitin associates the "divine word" with a book. By the 80s of the XX century. scientists counted over 500 copies of 12 editions of the great Russian educator. Many of them are now kept in museums and private collections in Moscow, St. Petersburg, other cities of Russia, Kiev and Lvov, as well as in Poland (Warsaw and Krakow), Yugoslavia, Great Britain, Bulgaria and the USA. Until now, they amaze contemporaries with their highest artistic perfection. His life was a heroic deed in its goal, in its dedication and the extraordinary results achieved. Selfless work, coupled with constant failures and moving, painful and persistent search for technical and artistic methods, philological, proofreading, writing and pedagogical research put Ivan Fedorov not only in the place of an outstanding printing technician. This Russian man was and remains in the memory of all literate people as an educator, artist, creator, creator of Russian and Ukrainian book literature, an outstanding figure of Russian and Slavic culture of the second half of the 16th century.

Bibliography

1.Kizivetter A.A. Ivan Fedorov and the beginning of book printing in Russia. M., 1904

2. Kukushkina M.V. Book in Russia in the 16th century. - SPb .: Petersburg Oriental Studies, 1999, 202 p. Series "Slavica Petropolitana", III.

Lukyanenko V.I. The alphabet of Ivan Fedorov, its sources and specific features // TODRL. M.-L., 1960.

4.Malov V. Book. Series "What is what", M., SLOVO, 2002.

E.L. Nemirovsky Ivan Fedorov. M., 1985.

E.L. Nemirovsky Polygraphic technique of Ivan Fedorov and his students. In the book "Ivan Fedorov" M., Nauka, 1959 or Questions of the history of natural science and science, 1984, No. 1.

From the alphabet of Ivan Fedorov to the modern primer / Comp. Bogdanov V.P. et al. -M .: Education, 1974

Tikhomirov M.N. At the origins of Russian book printing. M., USSR Academy of Sciences, 1959.

Tags: Ivan Fedorov - Russian pioneer printer Abstract Journalism