First Tobolsk Publishers

In 1789 the first printing house of the merchant Korniljev was opened. It was at that printing house that the first printing book in Siberia was published, and the English novel ‘A College of Love’ was translated by the exiled officer Pankrati Sumarokov.

At the same time a first periodical magazine called ‘Irtysh turning into Hypocreana’ was started to get published. It was one of the first periodicals in Russian province. It contained articles, stories, and translations from foreign magazines. The magazine lasted till 1791. It was followed by ‘The Historical Journal’, and later by a periodical called ‘A Library on History, Economics, and Morals’ with a wide range of miscellaneuos topics. These magazines had a total circulation of 15 000 copies.

Books by some local authors were also published, among which were ‘The Chronicles of Tobolsk’, ‘A Law Glossary’, ‘Agricultural Economy’. In 1796 Ekaterina II issued a decree prohibiting private publishing, so the printing house of Korniljev got closed. Despite a short period of its functioning, the printing house verified the existence of original authors and advanced readers in Province.