Ivan Dmitriyevich Sytin was one of the largest and most influential book publishers in Russia. Before the October Revolution of 1917, every fourth book in the country was published by the “Ivan Sytin and Co Partnership”. The publishing house printed the cheapest editions of the collected works of Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy and Chekhov, the first editions of peoples, military and children encyclopedias, the most distinguished works on history and geography, posters, reference books and calendars.
Ivan Sytin contributed greatly to the eradication of illiteracy in Russia. After the education reforms were introduced in the 1860s, public schools were established, which needed textbooks to help children visualize everything the teacher explained to them. There was also a great need for special textbooks for adults who could not read. Sytin recalled, “Textbooks were insanely expensive, often of poor quality and inaccessible. Those who were eager to learn suffered from a monstrous barrier between them and the books.”
The publisher took a serious and responsible approach to issuing textbooks. He consulted with teachers and found out what schools had the need for, and as a result, wonderful visual aids on geography, ethnography, biology and history were published.
Nikolay Vasilyevich Tulupov, one of the best teachers of his time and the author of many textbooks and children’s books, wrote about Sytin, “He brought books closer to the people. He translated the noble aspirations of the best minds of our intelligentsia into flesh and blood — to give the people healthy spiritual sustenance. This is Sytin’s greatest merit, and for this, he holds a place of honor among the Russian enlighteners.”
From 1899 to 1905, the publishing house issued 33 textbooks; from 1906 to 1916, it published 180 textbooks for elementary schools. In addition, the Sytin Partnership issued teacher’s books, as well as books on applied and additional classes and activities, including drawing, handicrafts, physical activities, theater, school celebrations, tableaux vivants and literary soirées.
Alexander Ivanovich Ertel also purchased such textbooks for the zemstvo school, where he was the trustee. He met Sytin in the early 1880s when they worked together in the Posrednik publishing house. Sytin and Ertel were among the founders of a special society called School and Knowledge: the main task of the organization was to hold open competitions for textbooks in order to make them cheaper and improve their quality.
