Pavlo Balytsky’s scientific heritage in field of book studies and history of Ukrainian book

Abstract

Purpose of the work. Study of the scientific achievements of Pavlo Oleksandrovych Balytskyi in the field of Ukrainian bibliography. The methodology is based on the use of analysis, synthesis, comparative-historical, typological methods, as well as the involvement of methods of biography and biohistoriography. Scientific novelty. Based on a comprehensive analysis of various sources (archival materials, published personal works, memoirs and modern literature about the life and work of the scientist), the contribution of P. Balytskyi to the development of Ukrainian bibliology science in the 1920s was first clarified. Conclusions. The most significant achievement of P. Balytskyi was his studies in the field of book history, which largely laid the foundations for a monographic study of the then practically unexplored Ukrainian printing in the second half of the 19th century. Like most of his colleagues, the researcher was a positivist and focused special attention on individual facts and small details in order to recreate a broad panorama of the history of the Ukrainian book of a particular period. P. Balytskyi focuses his main attention on publishing and the art of the book, which he identified with illustration, artistic design and printing. Such interests could be caused primarily by his extensive publishing experience and teaching work at the Kyiv Art Institute. On the other hand, the issues of book repertoire and especially book distribution were considered by him episodically. Thanks to the high level of scientific analysis, information richness, the presence of broad generalizations, an interdisciplinary approach, and the rejection of vulgar sociological interpretations, “Studies in the history of the Ukrainian book” continue to retain their scientific value to this day. Of significant source value are P. Balytskyi’s memoirs about G. Narbut, primarily devoted to highlighting the collaboration of the master of book graphics with the publishing company “Drukar”. The issues of the readership were not a priority for P. Balytskyi, although he was interested in them not only for pedagogical and educational purposes, but also to satisfy his own commercial interests as a publisher.