The range of reading among Russian tourists during the late XIX - early XX century

Abstract

The study is devoted to the establishment of reference publications for the tourists in Russia at the turn of XIX-XX centuries. The authors attempted to analyze the guidebooks and this allowed to study the nature of the print media, which formed a circle of literary reading for a Russian traveler within the specified chronological period. At that the authors of the article also pay their attention to periodicals – touristmagazines, which also had a certain popularity among readers.

The methodological basis of the study was the set of general scientific and empirical and theoretical methods, such as synthesis, comparison and deduction. The use of these methods allowed to identify the key trends in the development of the tourism literature in Russian Empire within the considered chronological period. For example, if a Russian traveler was forced to enjoy mainly the literature in foreign languages at first, then the domestic compilers and authors, having experienced a period of clear duplication and compilation were able to offer the guides to a reader compiled by taking into account the national peculiarities of a Russian traveler with a carefully thought-out content and structure.

The result of the study is the determination of the tourist literature key features and characteristics, as well as their grouping according to different principles, for example, according to the forms of publications, according to the geography review, according to the publication language or a targeted appeal.