Publishing Activities of the Newspaper Sibirskiy Vestnik (1885-1890)

The article discusses the activities of the second private newspaper of Tomsk- Sibirskiy Vestnik Politiki, Literatury i Obshchestvennoy Zhizni [Siberian Vestnik of Politics, Literature and Social Life] (Sibirskiy Vestnik); namely, in publishing book-type products. The editorial offices of pre-revolutionary Siberian newspapers, in addition to their main task-publication of periodicals-often engaged in the publication of various brochures, appendices, and book projects. This is evidenced by the history of the newspapers Sibir' (Irkutsk), Sibirskaya Gazeta (Tomsk), Vostochnoe Obozrenie (Saint Petersburg-Irkutsk), and others. For example, but for newspaper issues, Sibirskaya Gazeta, the first private newspaper in Tomsk in 1881-1888, published appendices and individual publications: essays, charters, reports, brochures, fairy tales, catalogs, and even books. The second Tomsk newspaper also began to publish similar book projects: this was of great importance in the context of the controversy of the first two Tomsk newspapers and the development of the market for pre-revolutionary periodicals. Back at the stage of developing its concept, Sibirskiy Vestnik had already been declared as an ideological “counterweight” to the existing Sibirskaya Gazeta with its pronounced regional and oppositional trend. This led to an active confrontation between the two local newspapers. However, it should be noted that the editors of Sibirskiy Vestnik behaved quite aggressively not only in relation to Sibirskaya Gazeta: censorship archives preserved numerous denials of newspaper articles from individuals, various complaints, accusations of Sibirskiy Vestnik in spreading false information, etc. The actual publishing history of the newspaper began in 1886, after acquiring its own Sibirskiy Vestnik Printing House. Already in issue No. 30 (1886), the editorial board announced preparations for the printing of the first editorial book publication, a collection entitled Current Issues of Siberian Life. Unfortunately, libraries and archives have no information about this edition; it is possible that the collection was never published. From 1886 to 1890, Sibirskiy Vestnik published several editions annually. Most of them were reprints from the newspaper. The most important of them were: the brochure “The First University in Siberia” (1888), the polemical articles “False Scholarship” (1888) and “Thoughts Aloud” (1889) by S.K. Kuznetsov, and “Siberian Railway” (1889) by V.A. Kartamyshev. These reprints served the same purposes as publications in the newspaper: to attract supporters, to expand the circle of readers. In this regard, Sibirskiy Vestnik followed the path already approved by Sibirskaya Gazeta: it also published articles which caused a response from readers or which the editors found particularly important in separate printing copies. In addition, editorial staff published their works in the printing house, educational publications were also printed. The distinction of Sibirskiy Vestnik's policy from that of Sibirskaya Gazeta was the emphasis on the publication of brochures that were reprints from the newspaper, and this was a part of the controversy conducted between the newspapers.

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