Scholarly Myths and Archival Evidence: Moscow Book Printing in the Seventeenth Century

This article re-examines several influential interpretations of Moscow book printing in the seventeenth century that became established in twentieth-century Soviet scholarship. Drawing on documents from the Archive of the Order of Books of Printing, it compares these historiographical assumptions with archival evidence and demonstrates that a number of widely accepted claims cannot be sustained. The article also introduces previously unpublished archival material that sheds new light on the organisation of Moscow book production, the purposes for which books were produced, and the range of texts issued by the printing house. By confronting long-standing historiographical assumptions with documentary evidence, the study refines our understanding of seventeenth-century Moscow book culture and illustrates the continuing importance of archival research for the reassessment of established historical narratives.

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