The Structure of the Modern Period Book Culture and the Mechanisms of Book Historical Development

The article examines the form of book and the book culture of the Modern Period. The author de- fi nes that the form of book is in direct correlation to the techno logy and artistic image of the book, and the book culture is considered as a combination of different forms of books in their interaction. The author reconstructs the Modern Period book culture on the basis of main book techniques — manuscript, engraving, printing. These techniques define the existence of three basic forms of the Modern Period book — hand-written book, engraved book, printed book. According to the author’s opinion, each of the forms is determined by specific social needs and demands of the historical period. In addition to the three basic forms, the book culture of the Modern Period includes some hybrid book forms, which appeared as a result of the interaction between different book techniques — e.g. “engraved and hand-written”, “engraved and printed”, etc. Their occurrence is caused by the needs of society and the technical capabilities of that time. The ratio of the book techniques in a certain historical period depends on the level of development of the book distribution system. According to this approach, the history of books is considered as a consecutive change of book culture types, which happens due to the emergence of new techniques of the book. The emergence of new book techniques gradually destabilizes the stable (traditional) type of book culture — because of the appearance of new book forms in its interior — and thus contributes to the emergence of a new type of book culture and a new period in the development and history of books. Such a model of book development is shown for the first time in this article.