The Reader’s Interest of Seminarians during the Period of Social Rise in the Second Half of the 19th — Early 20th Century

The article analyzes the reader’s interests of students of theological seminaries of the second half of the 19th — early 20th century. Libraries were a mandatory element of the functioning of theological seminaries. Memoirs of the seminarians provided the background for the present article. The author analyzes the state policy on formation of the ideological education of children of the clergy. The article describes the content of the libraries of theological seminaries and the mechanisms for their replenishment. The study is aimed to demonstrate that the library collections did not meet the interests of seminarians, and the reading circle of young people was being influenced by the social rise in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. Revolutionary populists were greatly affecting the reader’s interests. The students of seminaries were willing to read the works of leading authors of that time: H.T. Buckle, H. Spencer, N.K. Mikhaylovsky, N.G. Chernyshevsky, D.I. Pisarev. An analysis of archival documents demonstrates that the government attempted to monitor what students read in theological seminaries. Books of the leading authors were banned and withdrawn. The seminarians sought to create their own reading circle. Therefore, many students made attempts to visit city libraries, to take books from friends and acquaintances, to create their own secret collections.

The article reveals the history of secret libraries in Kostroma and Vladimir. The study helps to understand that the authors of the memoirs shared their reader’s interests in order to show the impact of reading books by progressive authors. Most of the memoirs’ authors claimed that the interest in the clandestine circles had been caused by a desire to diversify the monotonous daily life in seminaries. Seminarians read forbidden literature because of their interest in current problems of Russia and society.

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