The music publishing industry, as one of the dynamically developing areas of 19th-century Russian culture, is undoubtedly of interest in terms of the commercial and creative pursuits of its prominent representatives. This primarily concerns the enterprise owners who determined the direction and strategic paths of music printing, the major entrepreneurs and leading figures in the Russian business world. The personal factor, serving as a crucial characteristic of this process, reflects its content and essence, allowing researchers to highlight the commercial image, high professional standards, history, and significance of music publishing firms.

In the unity of the “sublime and the mundane”, individual style and approach are formed, marking peaks of achievement in the era of rapid capitalist development. The unique synthesis of a love of music and financial profit, which accompanied the music publishing industry in the pre-revolutionary period, opens new prospects for its study through documentary evidence and materials introduced into scholarly discourse for the first time. These materials acquire their significance in the context of shaping the cultural foundations of the era, establishing cause-and-effect relationships, and comprehending the results obtained. One example of this is the music publishing firm “M. Bernard”. To date, its activities remain under-researched and are of undoubted interest in terms of its publishing profile, which includes piano literature, children’s repertoire, vocal music, M.I. Bernard’s own compositions, and the Nouvellist magazine. The focus is placed on little-known sources, catalogues, and sheet music from the collections of the Russian State Library (RSL), which allow researchers to determine the scope of interests, character, and specifics of the firm’s operations and, overall, the owner’s talent and eccentricity.