Expert board:

• Scientific Council of RAS on economic history;
• Research and Educational Center «The economic history of Central Russia and the Middle Volga region» of Ogarev Mordovia State University;
• Center of Economic History of  Lomonosov Moscow State University

Certificate of registration

УДК 94(438).04

Ivan M. Basov

Saint Petersburg Institute of History of Russian Academy of Sciences (Saint Petersburg, Russia),

e-mail: vbim17@yandex.ru

 

Prices of Printed Books in the Sixteenth-Century Polish Kingdom

 

Abstract

Introduction. Price is one of the most important econometric parameters, which is also important for the history of book publishing. Information on the early printed books’ prices is needed for a quantitative view of the degree of regional printed culture development and the market tied to it. The purpose of article is aggregation and analyze of the prices of printed products purchased in the territory of the Polish Kingdom in the 16th century.

Materials and Methods. The study was conducted on the basis of 445 ownership and trade records that are found in the books and brochures stored in the funds of the University of Warsaw Library, the Library of the Poznań Society of Friends of Learning and the Kórnik Library. Based on this sample, the author draws conclusions about the average price values and price dynamics on the Polish printed book market during the 16th century.

Results. Based on the sample, the author draws conclusions about average price values, dispersion and range of values, as well as price dynamics on the Polish printed book market during the 16th century.

Discussion and Conclusion. Statistical analysis demonstrates that the average price values for printed books in the Polish Kingdom during the 16th century were slightly higher than is commonly assumed in historiography, and also higher than in other European lands during the same century. The listed data are necessary for a quantitative assessment of the processes that took place in the printing culture of the Early Modern Period. In particular, such statistics are needed to compare specific purchase prices of publications with the market situation, as well as to analyze the profitability of Polish printing exports, which were carried out in the 16th century to the cities of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Tsardom of Moscow.

Key words: bookselling, bookselling in the 16th century, ownership records, cliometrics, historical statistics, early printed books, Early Modern Age, Polish Kingdom.

For citation: Basov I. M. Prices of Printed Books in the Sixteenth-Century Polish Kingdom. Economicheskaya istoriya = Russian Journal of Economic History. 2024; 20(3): 247–258. (In Russ.)

 

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