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The Publisher Wolf. The Sentry at the "Book Watch"

In the mid XIX century, Russian book publishing was on the rise due to rapid technical development of book printing as well as constantly growing demand for fiction and educative literature. Nowadays the value of a certain book at the antiquarian market is measured by the brand of its publisher and rareness of the edition itself.

Magazine: Literature, Science and Bibliography News of Bookstores of M. Wolf Partnership [zoom (42k)]

A dealer of a serious Vilno-based publishing and book-trading firm arrived in St. Petersburg in 1848. Due to his deep knowledge and erudition, the young man soon became the welcome guest in many St. Petersburg families interested in literature. The name of the young man was Mavrikiy Wolf. Just at that time, a prominent Russian publisher Y. Isakov was searching for an experienced book specialist and a connoisseur of the French literature, who would be able to put in order the corresponding section of his St. Petersburg bookstore. When Isakov learned that Mavrikiy Wolf earlier had collaborated with a major book company in Paris, he immediately offered the young expert a job. Wolf came from a well-known doctor family: his grandfather was the Court doctor of the Austrian Emperor Josef II. However, at the age of twelve Mavrikiy decided to commit himself to book business. After finishing the gymnasia, he left for Paris ≈ the only place, as he believed, where he could become a true expert in literature. There he worked for renowned firms Bossange, Brockhaus and Avenarius. Then he mastered his skills and knowledge in Leipzig working for the firm of Engelmann. In order to gain more experience he made many business trips to Lvov, Krakow and Vilno. As the authorized dealer of Polish book-trading companies, Mavrikiy Wolf visited a great number of North-Western Russian cities and towns. After four years of permanent wanderings and hard work, the young specialist decided to go to St. Petersburg.

The energetic and ambitious trader managed to make acquaintance with various important and interesting people and shortly became the general manager for the Isakov▓s book company. Contemporaries told about Mavrikiy Wolf: "He was a splendid storyteller, master of French language and literature. He was never shy or feeble-minded in company of celebrities or important persons, on the contrary, he always attracted public attention; everyone listened to him with pleasure".

Working for Isakov, Wolf stipulated for the right to publish Polish books independently. For example, he printed a number of editions of books by Krashevsky, Zalevsky, Kachkovsky, Spasovich, Bartashevich. As the enterprise developed, Mavrikiy started to think about the foundation of his own book business.

The Europe-fashioned bookstore of M. Wolf opened in the center of the Nevsky line of the famous Gostiny Dvor store on October 1, 1853. On the face of things, the book trading is not a very complicated job. However, a bookseller should be familiar with constantly changing tastes and preferences of readers. Wolf▓s deep knowledge in all literary spheres and aspects was one of the reasons of his popularity and success with buyers.

At the same time, Wolf began to publish various Russian books. Mavrikiy Wolf was not only a lucky and shrewd merchant; he was truly interested in what he did because he loved his job. Wolf achieved success in that field too. Still, he was often heard saying: "Sometimes the publisher considers the offered book to be extremely interesting and noteworthy, but his experience tells him that it won▓t be success with the public and it won▓t pay off. However, we have published many important non-profitable writings, knowing that they would be sold at sacrifice. We just have to publish good literature for its sake".

Advertisement of the new Russian bookstore of M. Wolf. 1854 [zoom (88k)]

The first Russian language book published by Wolf was "The Popular Mechanics" by N. Pisarevsky, as such comprehensible scientific literature was well-liked by numerous readers at the time.

Three years later Mavrikiy Wolf established his own printing house; in 1874, he acquired the print shop of V. Golovin, while in 1878 he bought the letter foundry of E. Revillion and expanded it after purchase of coins of the celebrated Paris engraver and type-founder Leliet.

Throughout his career Wolf remained faithful to his credo as a publisher. He strived to become a publisher-encyclopedist and printed books devoted to all branches of learning. He was the first to introduce such writers as Shlosser, Figuet and Kuno-Fischer to Russian readers. He was the first in Russia to publish collected works of Vladimir Dal, Pisemsky, Mitskevich, Lessing, Walter Scott and Jules Verne, as well as large-scale illustrated editions like the Holy Bible and "Divine Comedia" with superb pictures by Gustave Dore, "Faust" illustrated by Lisen-Meier, the "World History Atlas" by Weisser and Dal▓s "Defining Dictionary".

Wolf published modern fiction literature too. We may remember such names as Leskov, Krestovsky, Milukov, Meschersky, Nemirovich-Danchenko, collected volumes of theatre pieces by Kony, Andreev, Grigoriev. "History of the French Revolution" by Tier, the "History of the World Literature" and various works on medicine, chemistry, physics, mechanics and geography published by Wolf were highly sought-after among readers as well.

Independence and self-sufficiency were characteristic traits of Wolf▓s book business. He never tried to imitate or compete with other book publishers, as he went his own way. No matter how moneymaking and easy was printing of "pulp fiction" editions, Wolf did not want to be engaged in such business.

According to his contemporaries, Wolf published superb children▓s books. His books were simply the best among the variety of the subject literature offered by other booksellers. Wolf kept in mind to introduce Russian children the best samples of German, French, English juvenile literature and to publish a number of works by Russian writers. Wolf believed that "a child needs quite diverse intellectual pabulum, that▓s why we have published all the best we could get".

Almost form the very beginning of his independent business Wolf published various subject magazines.

The first magazine titled "Around the World" under the editorship of P. Olkhin was published in 1861. The magazine was dedicated to journeys of famous explorers and travelers of all times; it told readers about their impressions and observations, about curious customs and traditions of exotic tribes and peoples.

In 1863 Wolf started to print a monthly "Bibliographical Journal" ≈ a calendar of Russian and foreign books with free distribution. The same year he published first issues of a monthly children▓s magazine "Entertaining Stories" edited by A. Pchelnikova. A large-volume magazine "Foreign Herald" reviewing important events of European cultural life and literature was established in 1864. The magazine featured only translated articles and essays as the government strictly censored writings by Russian authors, whereas translations could be published rather easily.

Among large-scale Wolf▓s projects was an idea of creating of an important and comprehensive scientific and popular description of the vast Russian Empire and peoples inhabiting it. By 25th anniversary of his book trading and printing career, he realized his long-time dream and published a magnificent edition "Picturesque Russia" under the editorship of the vice-president of the Imperial Russian Geographic Society P. Semenov.

Front page of I. Pryzhov's History of Pothouses in Russia and History of the Russian Nation. St. Petersburg. 1868 [zoom (52k)]

We may remember several curious anecdotes happened with some of Wolf▓s editions. For instance, in 1863 Wolf made a decision to publish a work "Logic System" by an English researcher John Mille. The translator of the book F. Rezner asked for help of someone competent and experienced in editing translations of specific "philosophic terms". Such a man was found rather quickly. It was a popular author of "Studies in Practical Philosophy" P. Lavrov. Therefore, the "Logic System" was published under the editorship and with comments of Lavrov; traditionally, the name of the editor was indicated on the first page of the edition. Fourteen years later the book was reprinted. However, the Main Department of the Press "arrested" the edition because the book featured the name of a political criminal Lavrov who had escaped from exile and left the country. Due to the bustle caused by the arrest of the second edition, St. Petersburg collectors quickly snatched up the first edition featuring the name of Lavrov. The cost of the book in antique shops reached 30 rubles. Later Wolf managed to persuade officials not to put the book out of existence, but to eliminate the cover and the front page with Lavrov▓s name and to replace them with the new ones.

In 1865, the French Emperor Napoleon III published a three-volume edition "History of Julius Caesar". The monarch manifested a desire to see the book translated in all European languages. In Russia, it was Wolf▓s company, which was entrusted to translate and publish the work of the French sovereign. Wolf visited Paris and met Napoleon III. Despite a number of positive comments, the edition proved to be unprofitable, and Wolf published only two volumes. The personal secretary of Napoleon III did not keep his word to award the Russian translator and publisher a French order, while publishers and translators in other European countries received their award as it had been promised.

There were more anecdotes. In 1867 an unpresentable elderly man entered Wolf▓s bookstore and offered a writing ≈ an original research work concerning the history of alcohol trading in Russia from the olden times. The writing contained a great number of little-known pieces of information about traders and tapsters, alterations in the public legislation, the government policy and attitude towards the problem throughout the history of that business in Russia. The work included data proving that the government capitalized on the total alcoholism of the population.

The author of the book Ivan Pryzhov was not a novice at the literary field. The Moscow nobleman, a gifted writer and a connoisseur of folk traditions he stood aloof of writing circles. His works were often severely censored and rarely published. His book "History of Pothouses in Russia and History of the Russian Nation" published by Wolf in 1868 with a run of 2,000 copies was a great success with buyers. However, after Pryzhov was sentenced for participation in the "Society of People▓s Punishment" headed by Netchaev, Wolf was forced to stop publishing his works. The remaining copies of the edition were burned by accident; nowadays "The History of Pothouses" is a bibliographic rarity.

Despite the branching out Wolf entered into everything himself working for 15 hours a day. He talked to buyers a lot, and, thus, was in touch with changes in reader▓s tastes and demands.

Still, by 1881 he overspent his health and decided to establish a partnership on shares. Becoming the first director of the "M. Wolf Partnership" he continued to work hard. In 1883 he suffered a stroke right in the publishing office. Mavrikiy Wolf died literally at the "book watch". Due to his long-sightedness and wise policy his business effectively functioned up to 1918.