The article is aimed at characterizing periodicals chosen for reading by Irkutsk inhabitants in the late XIXth – early XXth centuries. Based on the analysis of the funds of the Irkutsk Region State Archive, in particular information about book circulation in public and private libraries of Irkutsk in 1895–1905, the article gives data on the percentage of periodicals and belles-lettres chosen for reading by the inhabitants of different classes. The author highlights distinctive feature of the readership in Irkutsk: representatives of petty bourgeois and military showed a greate interest in reading that argues against reader-interest classification suggested by N. A. Rubakin. Moreover, the author indicates that the readers requested more journals than newspapers by approximately 26 %. The author gives a detailed description of the journals, most popular among readers. According to the reports, the literary and political journal "Russian thought" was on the first place according to readers' requirements in the Irkutsk public library in that period.

For citation:

Zhuravleva M.V. Periodicals Chosen for Reading by Inhabitants of Irkutsk in the Late XIX – Early XX Century. The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series History, 2018, vol. 24, pp. 58-65. https://doi.org/10.26516/2222-9124.2018.24.58 (in Russian)

DOI

https://doi.org/10.26516/2222-9124.2018.24.58

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