Even Tsar Ivan the Terrible drew attention to the fact that handwritten books are in malfunction and abound in errors. Indeed, before the introduction of book printing, scribes often made mistakes, made unacceptable changes to books that distorted the meaning of the records. The publication of printed books helped to correct the situation and bring order to the book business.
From the history of typography
The invention of printing has become one of the notable cultural developments. In Russia, the first printing house appeared around 1553. Unfortunately, the names of all the typographic masters have not reached the present day. Clerk Ivan Fedorov is considered the first printer in Russia. There is information that he planned to publish the first book in 1553.
Setting up a printing house turned out to be a tricky business. Only ten years later in Moscow, through the efforts of Ivan Fedorov and his associates, a "Russian press" was created. Its building was built next to the Nikolsky Monastery, where the Printing House was later located. The printers had at their disposal a beautiful font and numerous graphic elements, which were to become headpieces for future books.
The first printed books in Russia
The first book by Russian printers, The Apostle, was published in March 1564. It was a very high quality edition for those times, printed in clear print and richly decorated in terms of graphics. The work on the publication of the "Apostle" was carried out for almost a year. The book was a liturgical book, it contained separate parts of the New Testament. The edition had a special layout and was divided into fragments intended for reading during divine services. The first book quickly became a bibliographic rarity.
About a year later, the "Russian Printing House" twice published another book, which bore the name "Chasovnik". The first printer Ivan Fedorov not only mastered typography well, but also turned out to be a competent editor. He skillfully ruled the translations of the Holy Scriptures at his disposal. Fedorov's books in their style approached the language of that time.
After some time, Ivan Fedorov and his associate Pyotr Mstislavets left Moscow for not completely understandable reasons, but did not stop publishing. Probably, the masters were persecuted for this heretical occupation. Having settled in Lviv, the printers once again published the book "Apostle", and then the entire Bible. Around 1574, the first edition of a printed primer appeared, equipped with grammatical rules.
After the departure of printers from Moscow, printing there stopped for more than two decades. It is known that the masters Nikifor Tarasyev and Andronik Timofeev tried to publish the Psalter, where the font and some other elements were almost entirely copied from the Apostle Ivan Fedorov. But the real publication of printed books in Moscow resumed only towards the end of the 16th century.
