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History of publication in Greece: 1830 - 1974

PERIOD 1830-1880

The production of the book in Greece started from scratch after the founding of the Greek state. Until then, the Greek book was produced in the printing houses of Western Europe. From there it was transported to Greece and addressed to a limited educated public. The creation of a free Greek state changed the social environment of the book. The factor that influenced the formation of a new landscape in the country and began to manifest itself early, was the revolution in "reading". First of all, the newspapers that carry news, controversies but also "dissertations" and readings, are published en masse and spread throughout the country and are read individually or publicly. The second catalyst of the reading revolution was the novel, which was translated mainly from French and published in magazines and newspapers. Until the end of 19ου century this change in reading behavior takes place, which consists in the transition from cyclical / intensive reading -characteristic of the traditional religious culture- to linear / extensive reading, which shapes the new urban culture.

The circuit of the book in these conditions steps on the tradition of the Enlightenment and is characterized by the way of wisdom. We see this in the large private libraries that have been formed since the time of the Ottoman era and in bibliophilia. A typical example is the prominent people of the Peloponnese, the Sisini brothers in Gastouni, or the Notarades in Corinth who have joined the culture of education and whose libraries impressed Puckeville in the early 19th century.

The establishment of an independent state drastically expanded this field. The inclination of society towards education, the foundation of the school system, the founding of the University (to which all social strata contributed) form a permanent framework and a potential consumer public for the production and circulation of the book.

The educational system created the first systematic structure for the distribution of the (school) book. The 6 thousand students of 1830 reached 80 thousand in 1879, about 40% of school-age children, while by the end of the 19th century they had exceeded 150,000. The state soon abandoned the monopoly, leaving the field to the private sector, a practice that led to a stalemate in education but shaped a book market.

Apart from the school system, other institutional slots for the book were created. In 1829, the first Public Library of the state, the later National Library, was founded by Governor Kapodistrias in Aegina, and after the Constitutional Revolution of 1843 and the operation of Parliament, the Library of Parliament was created.

If reading has taken the path of its social diffusion, the book itself remained in the narrow realm of the world of wisdom. This function is reflected in both the titles and the book review dissertations published in literary journals such as Pandora, the Efterpi etc. The popular reading need was served more than low-cost booklet editions: the traditional religious reading service with psalms, saints' lives, popular interests with caskets, calendars, historical novels or adventurous nonsense in sequels. These are the types of publications that cater to the interests of the reading public of the mid-19th century.

The production of the book

Printing houses and bookstores immediately appeared in the main urban centers of the country. After the transfer of the state capital to Athens, gradually (within a decade) the center of gravity was transferred there from the few important provincial publishing centers (Ermoupolis, Nafplio, Patras).

However, throughout the 19The century the way the book was produced was still in the pre-business stage. There was no publishing policy from the printing presses and the publication of the books was due almost exclusively to the paid order. It was essentially a self-publishing of the authors and the printing house / publishing house was the executor of the order. In the rare cases where a publisher-printer published a book at his own expense, he would record the fact on the cover as "printed by himself" - it was so important that it had to be declared. Because printing costs were relatively high and sales were uncertain, subscriber registration - an international tradition - was also widespread to secure the funding needed to fund the publications. In this way, a number of copies were made available to a potential readership. The lists of registered subscribers in the last pages of books published in this way are important material for research on the social composition and geographical distribution of the book's supporters in the mid-19th century.ου century. Such a systematic research remains to be done.

Two important typographers of the first period are Andreas Koromilas and Konstantinos Garpolas. The first had a long life and his printing house was bought after his death by the important printer of the late 19ου century Anesti Konstantinidis. The activity of the latter was short-lived for financial reasons. The printing press was a comparatively important investment and it was not easy to make ends meet; that is why the textbook sector has always been the subject of fierce and relentless competition.

For the circulation and finances of the book during 19The century, quantitative data are currently insufficient to draw valid conclusions.

A LITTLE BEFORE THE 20TH CENTURY

The last decades of the 19th century were marked by the consolidation of the city's hegemony and the consolidation of the educational system.

The three-dimensional modernization is evolving and in the literary field the generation of 1880 dominated, around Palamas. In 1876 the magazine was published Eστια who formed a circle of writers around him. This is the first time such an agglomeration has been expressed around a magazine. This is shown by the fact that writers are beginning to function as a collective, which has its implications for the publishing industry as well. They are looking for a different relationship with the book and its production. From Focus The historic publishing house of Georgios Kasdonis (later Ioannis Collarou) also Hestia Bookstore.

At the same time, a social trend, the turn to the people, with the foundation by Nikolaos Politis of the science of Folklore, marked new forms of intellectual production, the turn to the collection of songs, fairy tales, customs, etc. of the tradition of the rural world, but also strongly influenced and gave themes to the Greek ethnographic narrative.

The reading revolution continues and readings become more accessible to the public: a sign of it in everyday life is the appearance of booklet sellers on the streets in the English analogy. Fexis started as a brochure seller, who later played an active role in the genesis of the publishing house in its modern form. The pamphlets, of course, are about popular readings, which are in full bloom: novels published in sequels in newspapers, predatory readings, popular and historical novels, translations and adaptations of foreign novels, etc. A Greek version of this type of social novel is inaugurated with the works of Grigorios Xenopoulos. At the same time, the first generation of Greek artists appeared.

In the general context of the development, we can also register the upgrade of the National Library with its relocation to the new mansion that was built between 1887-1902 thanks to the donation of the national benefactor Panagi Vallianou. The book acquired a symbolically majestic roof with the new National Library, and this is a sample of the times to come.

SYSTEMATIC PUBLISHING HOUSES

At that time, printing presses appeared or developed that show the first signs of turning to professional publishing. Such was the case of Anestis Konstantinidis in 1884, who bought the Koromilas printing house and dominated the market until his death in 1901, of P. D. Sakellariou - son of the traditional printer Athan. Sakellariou, who took over his father's printing house at the end of the 19th century and modernized it by Ioannis Kousoulinos, with the publication Leading of Greek cities since 1900. These printing houses increase the number of titles they publish, and form some publishing series. Although this sector is not the main one in their activity, and is usually funded by a sponsor, it nevertheless indicates a tendency to systematize a publishing presence.

At the same time, bookstores appear that are distinguished for a new approach and combine in their activity and publishing practice. One of them aroused the enthusiasm of Drosini, who saw him as a "systematic publishing house", determined to invest in book publishing. Such bookstores founded until 1900 were owned by Giorgos Fexis, Georgios Kasdonis (mentioned above), Ioannis Rossis, Drakos Papadimitriou, Dimitrakos (in Lavrio), Ioannis Sideris and Michael Saliveros. These introduced the modern publishing company to the book production cycle from the beginning of the 20th century.

All the samples contribute to the finding that the book production space is entering a new phase.

GENESIS OF THE MODERN PUBLISHING HOUSE

The genesis of the modern publishing company took place at the beginning of the 20th century through a set of innovations implemented by some pioneering publishers. Interestingly, these innovations found their most complete expression in publishing companies that came from bookstores and the distribution chain in general. Traditional printers have not been able to climb the ladder of the modern publishing business. These innovations concern the formulation of an publishing policy - ie the creation of publishing series and the division of labor -, or which includes an independent commercial policy for the promotion of the book. This means that the production of the book passes entirely into the hands and choices of the publisher and becomes an investment. The first complete business operation of a publishing house was done by Georgios Fexis. He started selling leaflets of popular readings in the streets of Athens and developed into one of the major publishers of pre-war Greece. Fexis prepared a complete publishing program with all three series: Library Ancient Greek Writers, Literary Library and Philosophical & Sociological Library introduced in the Greek literature fundamental works of thought, infrastructure works and works of contemporary reflection that enriched the Greek market with the ancient Greek literature and the modern European currents of thought. With the books of Fexis, a whole generation of intellectuals grew up and was educated in Greece. He also entrusted the responsibility of his publishing series to special editors, thus introducing the first division of labor in the field of books, while in the field of distribution, he introduced advertising, installment payment facilities and discounts.

Fexis's steps were soon followed by other publishers, shaping the landscape of the modern publishing system, with the first Hestia Bookstore with Kasdonis's successor since 1901, Ioannis Collaros, and the bookstore / publishing house of Ioannis Sideris. The process embraced the entire publishing system and was completed within the first twenty years of the 20th centuryου century.

THE TIME OF THE INTELLECTUALS

In the 1920s, the book became the privileged space for new ideas, which come directly from their authors to the reading public. The speed of transferring and circulating ideas from books is growing rapidly. The number of titles is impressive, as well as the density of their issue. The publishing house then becomes the main body for the production and distribution of ideas. Their pages are home to all the spiritual currents that pervade the beginning of the 20th century and the interwar period. Nietzsche's works occupy an important place in her catalog Philosophical and Sociological Library Fexi, but also in the series of the same title by Vassilios or Library of Social Philosophy of Papadimitriou publications. Through the publication of books, a part of the conflict between nationalism and socialism takes place, of the two camps that have been in conflict since the beginning of the 20th century. The Our social issue of G. Skliros (1907) and, later, The social significance of the Greek revolution (1924) by G. Kordatos were books that caused intense unrest, while the nationalist articles of Dragoumis in Νουμά, were also published in a book after his death. This shows the growing importance of the book in the movement of ideas. The language issue as well, socialist ideas, sex education and psychoanalysis found expression in the book space.

With the parallel creation of the two great intellectual construction sites that are the ECyclopean Dictionary of Eleftheroudakis and the Mbig EGreek Eencyclopedia of the Torch, hundreds of scientists were turned into hired copiers, and the passage of a full copyright law in 1920 better regulated relations between writers and publishers, which were now governed by legal agreements.

At the same time, the traditional image of wisdom seems to be fading and in its place a new category is emerging, the intellectuals. They are not locked in offices surrounded by books, but they participate with their speech in the great political and social problems of the time, they take a stand, they sign collective texts. This new image goes hand in hand with the book's new social status. "Bibliophilia" is developing in the sense of the love of reading; in fact, several important politicians take care to add to their profile the status of "friend of the book" or "bookworm". At the same time, the collectible "bibliophilia" was revived. Expensive art versions appear, which are in demand. Bibliographic magazines and "collectible" books are published. In general, the book becomes a high cultural category with a whole world around it.

The social prestige of the book laid on new foundations the issue of the reading public and the growing inflation of the publications, the need for its expansion. We are not talking here about the audience of the popular reading, which always remains prosperous and numerous, but the new audience of the quality book. When asked if this audience existed and if the magazine was sufficient New Home, a publication of the Collaros publishing house, writes that when it began to be published in 1927 it "found an audience unprepared for its pages"; but it feels satisfied ten years later because readership ". The report implies the general readership which consumes mainly literature and which was strengthened by the participation of numerous women. Women "reading" is an expanding category of readers who not only reinforced light emotional (para) literature, but also serious. It goes hand in hand with the distinct presence of women writers, a new category, after the pioneer but lonely Alexandra Papadopoulou. The "young" have a significant weight, both as readers and as creators. These two categories expanded slowly but steadily during the two decades 1920 and 1930.

There are, of course, the special categories of the reading public: the audience of children's books, the books of science, the audience of popular readings - a stable, broad audience, nurtured by popular magazines - and the audience of the Left, which in the context of ideology of thirst for information and self-education.

An autonomous cultural field was then created, the world of the book. It was at the center of a general educational effort, aesthetic education and scientific upgrading of the interwar society. In 1924-5 the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki was founded and the following year the Academy of Athens. The arts and letters flourish - elegant and artistic magazines circulate, some even putting detachable reproductions of paintings, to decorate the walls of their homes with these.

With the publication of the magazine Bouquet, this trend is also penetrating the traditional field of popular reading - the material of the magazine addressed to a wider category of readers includes remarkable scientific articles and good literary texts.

PUBLISHING PUBLICATIONS: LARGE PUBLISHING PROJECTS

The rise of the publishing space in the 1920s was marked by two publishing projects which are a milestone in the publishing history of the Greek state. This is the Great Greek Encyclopedia of the Torch and the Encyclopaedic Dictionary Eleftheroudaki. Both changed the dimensions and quality of book production in Greece. Their creation was the result of an epic effort, which relied exclusively on private publishing companies. And only the numbers are typical: the Eleftheroudakis Dictionary was completed in 12 volumes, 10,000 pages with 350,000 entries and 30,000 images and 400 authors collaborated. THE Encyclopaedia of Pyrsos had respectively 24 volumes with 23,000 pages, 280,000 entries and 35,000 images and 700 authors worked on it. The leading scientists and artists were in charge of the cognitive sectors of the two construction sites, while new technical means were used (creation by Eleftheroudakis of an entire Graphic Arts factory and bookbinding, ordering special papers, others for illustrations and others for maps, special inks, etc. .). THE Encyclopaedia of the Torch followed the model of the Encyclopædia Britannica with unsurpassed results. It was published in 16-page issues which were then bound in volumes. Both works were completed from 1926 to 1934 the Encyclopedia of the Torch and from 1927 to 1931. Both were based on Public Limited Companies, which were founded for this purpose. The inevitable competition between the two publishing projects created more problems in the Torch project, which was more voluminous, but did not prevent their completion.

The series of major publishing works was followed and completed, from 1933, the Mega Dictionary of the Greek Language of Dimitrakou, which gathered in one body the timeless Greek language. Numerous scientific staff worked on this as well, coordinated by the leading linguists and educators of Greece.

THE TEXTBOOK

The textbook, as already mentioned, was a support for book production. Its history has many variations. An attempt to establish a state monopoly (by royal decree in 1836) was not implemented after the reaction of the book professionals and was abolished two years later. Since then, the textbook has been the subject of fierce controversy with a view to its commercial use, and from this point of view, the history of the publication is of interest. The permanent and expanding textbook market functioned as an early greenhouse for book professionals long before the modern professional structure of publishing was formed.

The way the textbook was produced, selected and distributed went through many phases until their transition to absolute state control was finalized with the establishment of the School Book Publishing Organization in 1937.

From 1838 to 1882 the policy of free competition was implemented, with increasingly negative effects on the education system. Unbridled competition produced corruption, unworthiness, bribery of crisis committees and teachers, etc. and was abolished by the Trikoupi government in 1882. It returned in 1895 to 1907 with the same problems. Between 1882 and 1895 the policy of regulatory state intervention was implemented with the approval of one book for each course and for four years after a competition. The policy of regulatory state intervention was implemented in the period 1907-1916. In this second period was established a) the exclusive use of the Reading Room in Primary schools and b) the compensation of the authors of the approved textbooks with simultaneous acquisition of the rights of the books for a period of four years by the State. In 1910 the first textbooks were published as part of this policy, to which a special bookmark was affixed. The 1920s and 1930s were marked by the alternation of two policies (free competition and state intervention), but with the dictatorship of Pangalos, censorship was introduced. The spread of leftist ideas after the success of the Russian Revolution and the catastrophe of 1922 "created the urgent need to control Greek society" with the immediate consequence of the establishment of the policy of state monopoly by the dictatorship of Metaxas.

MAGAZINES AND PUBLISHING HOUSES

A phenomenon of the interwar period is the confluence of periodicals and publishing houses. In this context, the new relationship of the magazine with the publishing house emerged, which manifested itself in general with two moments: i) the publishing house that publishes a magazine and ii) the publisher of a magazine that goes to the roof of the publishing house.

This relationship has its economic, organizational and spiritual dimension. The magazines of the first twenty years of the 20th century with the method of self-financing suffered severely in the economic field. Most were sentenced to short life for purely cash reasons - due to the difficulty of finding money for printing - hunting for advertisers, financiers and draining personal savings. Trafficking was also extremely problematic, with the few central bookstores in Athens having access and the great difficulty of setting up and maintaining a distribution network in the rest of Greece. Especially after 1920 when the "potential" reading public grows seriously. Finally, the level of professional composition of the magazines was low to non-existent. Most could not pay their partners.

All these problems could be solved by the publishing house. Thus there is an approach of magazines with publishing houses. The Pioneers found a home in the publications Govosti, the Aρχιον Ofinancial and Ksocial Ecredits of Kallitsounakis changed from 1921 to 1940 three publishers (Bασιλείου, Zαχαρόπουλος, Kολλάρος), the Agrotic Oeconomy of Chrysos Evelpidis (publications Flame and later Papazisis), the Renaissance of Dimitris Glinos with the publisher No. Rally, even the Nουμάς after 1918 he found a home in various publishing houses (Ebuilder Ematch Tstyle in 1918-20 and 1923, Γανιάρη in 1920-3 and Bασιλείου in 1924).

Publishers seem to solve basic problems of publishing, distributing and professionally organizing magazines and this is a new element. On the other hand, publishers seem to want to penetrate the periodical for their own reasons. Publishers want magazines because through them they can reap significant benefits: first of all, advertising and distributing their books to magazine readers. Eleftheroudakis with NGreek letters, Govostis with them Pioneers and Koniological Einspection, Collaros with Nέα Eστια, Dimitrakos with the first magazine dedicated exclusively to the book (the His voice Bιβλίου in 1931) they do - in fact Eleftheroudakis promotes coupon and discount policies in his publications through NGreek letters, at a time when the literary book is plagued by the crisis of the 1930s.

Targeting special reading groups is also one reason: Dimitrakos with the publication of the magazine Work (1921) and Saliveros with Education later (in 1936), in the educational world, Govostis to the public of the Left, Pallis with Children's Xtherefore in the children's world. IN Zacharopoulos, specialized in legal publications undertakes at some point the continuation of the publication of the historical legal magazine Themis(which, after 1934, passed to the publishing house Tzaka-Delagrammatika).

On the other hand, with the undertaking of magazines, the publishing houses succeed in gathering and connecting with them a significant number of intellectual writers and scientists who are a ticket to the respective purchasing and reading publics, but also names whose radiation influences the intellectual life in general. . The names of Kallitsounaki, Evelpidis and N. Louvaris (director of the magazine Kosmotheory published by Zikakis in 1930) are passages to the University and the student world. The same for the educational world the names of Papamavros, Kountouras and Glinos.

THE New Home is an example of harmonious and balanced coexistence that made it the longest-lived Greek magazine: it was founded as a co-ownership of the publishing house Collaros and Greg. Xenopoulos (later by Petros Haris) and followed this middle path in everything from ideological equality to the balanced promotion of the publications of Collaros and other publishing houses. Holding a general spirit of moderation he managed to become a reliable mirror of the spiritual life. H Nέα Eστια gives us an example that demonstrates the benefits of the publishing house from its magazines: it is the announcement of a literary competition in 1927 through the magazine, the award-winning short stories of which were published in a volume by the publishing house. Important names of Greek literature first appeared in the letters among them.

BOOK CRISIS

The 1920s are a period of great development and integration of the Greek publishing system, which had to show a number of active publishing houses, many of which had become SAs, a large number of titles, productions of major works and an expanding and quality upgrade reading public. This boom was interrupted by two events: the economic crisis and its dictatorship 4ης August.

The crisis was global after the crash of 1929, and from 1932 its vibrations were felt in Greece as well. The increase in the index, the financial difficulties affected the purchase of the book among the other elastic costs. The crisis of the book has occupied authors and publishers in an interesting and colorful public debate that took place in the columns of magazines and newspapers. In 1937 a magazine published a series of opinions of authors and critics under the characteristic title "The agony of the Greek book". In a research of the magazine Voice of the Book Publishers were given the opportunity to comment. In general, the discussion embraced all the problems, from the price of paper and the cost of living, to the quality of books produced in Greece and the living conditions of Greek writers.

A consequence of the crisis, however, was the activation of the State with Law 5058 for the protection of letters and arts. Another initiative to support the book, from the publishing space, was the organization in 1931 of the first Greek Book Week, which was established as an annual report.

A serious aspect of the crisis and a factor of its aggravation was the penetration of the daily press in the field of publishing and distributing the book. From 1932, some newspapers began distributing books with coupons. The beginning was made with the newspaper State and many others followed, o Independent,The New world, the Citadel etc .. In the report of the Board. of the Collaros publishing house recognizes that the most important reason for the decrease in profits is the competition from the newspapers, which print books "on incomplete journalistic paper" and make them available for free or at a low price to their readers. The government was forced to legislate this practice in 1935. By then, however, newspapers had circulated thousands of copies, stimulating the book's distribution in this original way. The newspaper Independent, for example, managed to publish two encyclopedias (Sociology and Politics/ World Literary) and create three series of books (Philosophical-Sociological/ Literary/ Adventurous) with many notable titles. THE Citadel a series of "Selected Novels" with 35 titles (among the authors were V. Hugo, Zola, Mopasan, Gorky, Andrejev, etc.) and a travel encyclopedia, Around the world, with 18 issues. The quality of the titles distributed by the newspapers corresponded to the high level achieved by the Greek book production of the previous two decades.

With the imposition of the dictatorship in 1936, along with the crisis, the persecution of the book was added - the ban, the censorship until the barbaric public burning of the "miasmatic" books. The wildest example of this new reality was the orchestration of a pan-Hellenic campaign to tarnish and exterminate the internationally renowned philologist Ioannis Sykoutris, who in 1937 was led to a tragic suicide. The reason for the attack against him was a book, its scientific publication and commentary Symposium of Plato! Thus, the publishing space, which was in "orgasm" shortly before 4the August (according to a report by the National Bank) falls into "decline" in the next few years at a time when the regime's propaganda publications are flourishing. A symptom of this decline was the attempt to cooperate with four important publishers in 1937: Eleftheroudakis, Collaros, Tzakas-Delagrammatikas and Sideris created Greek publishing company, with the aim of making combined use of Eleftheroudakis's graphic arts factory, which was delayed after the completion of the publication of the Encyclopaedic Dictionary. But even this solution could not overcome the crisis and the general decline of the publishing space.

A large cycle of book publishing in Greece was completed there.

OCCUPATION AND POST-WAR LANDSCAPE

The German Occupation created a suffocating framework for the entire Greek society but also a mood of resistance. The publishing house was hit by repression, censorship, the precision of life, the lack of freedom of speech, but it offered a refuge and a special field of guarding and reconstitution of national life. Of course, a large part of the book production was published and distributed illegally and concerned the Resistance against the occupier. But it is characteristic that during the Occupation new publishing forms were created with remarkable production.

Such a case was the Societe Anonyme Publishing Company Eagle, which was founded in 1942 and operated for a decade (until the death of its creator Kimona Theodoropoulos in 1953) publishing the works of important writers, such as Karagatsi, Kazantzaki, Ourani, Kontoglou and others. Inside the Occupation. The publishing house was short-lived but productive Gull in 1943 with a rich production of works by Elytis, Petsali, Karagatsi etc. Finally, founded during the Occupation, in 1943, the publishing company Icarus, has been the most important and sustainable, as it operates to date. It was created by three friends of Marios Ploritis, Alekos Patsifas and Nikos Karydis. THE Icarus It was soon established in the publishing space for the authors it housed and for the quality and aesthetics of its books. Also the publishing bookstore The Friends of the Book, was also distinguished for the quality of his publications as well as for the authors with whom he collaborated. Two more short-lived publishing companies, o Lark and Pegasus were established during the occupation period.

The post-war political situation formed a suffocating framework for the book world. We can talk about a total setback compared to even the Occupation. After the end of the civil war and until the 1960s, the level of reading was completely dominated by popular literature and non-fiction, which were fueled by magazines or periodicals of wide circulation. The Pechlivanidis Brothers hold a prominent position in this genre. The Graphic Arts Mich. Pechlivanidis and Co., had been established as a Societe Anonyme since 1939, but after the War they established the publishing house and bookstore Atlantis, who among his publications released what is considered to be the largest Greek best seller of all time: τα Classic Illustrated.

In the pre-eminent part of the book a part of the production was banned or circulated from hand to hand. In the field of legality, the complex of "encyclopedias-thick books" that circulated through placemats in homes or workplaces dominated. A part of the world of the persecuted Left found refuge there. A typical example is publications Greek letters which for years relied on the publication and sale of the Liddell-Scott dictionary.

Overall speaking, until the early 1960s, the pre-war level had not been restored. The season is crystallizing a setback. The political bipolarity between the conservative and the progressive direction was also expressed, which determined the rearrangements in the publishing landscape. Among the traditional ones, the Collarou publishing house, with its moderate conservative direction, avoided persecution and unhooked from its unilateral identification with the textbook, launching its successful and long-standing series of modern Greek literature, which housed the 1930 On the other hand Icarus relied mainly on the poetic work of the same generation, which gradually dominated the Greek literary scene. With the versions Galaxy The quality pocket book was launched.

On the other hand, in the area of the Left, the publications Foundation, an instrument of the ECHR was the most systematic and ambitious attempt of the historical left in the field of books. Clicking on the publication of a pocket book, in addition to classic and modern Marxist texts, works by important Greek and foreign authors were published.

The publications Cedar of Nana Kallianesi, from 1954 became a hangout of important writers of the Left while the publications Bifurcation of Giannis Goudelis, undertook the publication of Kazantzakis's works in the 1950s. Its creation and its first steps Cedar are of particular interest. It was founded by the couple Nikos and Nana Kallianesi, who reunited after the end of the civil war and long persecutions and forced separations. THE Cedar started as a tiny publishing house supplemented by an equally tiny bookstore, in Stoa Arsakeiou. In 1956 he published his book there The dictators Costas Varnalis, who subsequently launched an exclusive collaboration. In the same year, Giannis Ritsos, who was still facing "hesitations and evasions" from other publishers, also appealed to Cedar. It publishes there Moonlight Sonata, who then won the First State Poetry Prize. It then reissues him Epitaph, a book banned for 20 years. Next year he begins his collaboration with Cedar the Circus Army. In 1958 he published his study Cavafy and his time, which introduced a new approach to Cavafy work into the critical thinking of the Left and sparked debate. THE Cedar turned to the work of Greek writers and became the step of many important old and new (Melpo Axioti, George Ioannou, Menelaos Lountemis, Dido Sotiriou, Tatiana Gritsi-Milliex, Nikos Kasdaglis, Miltos Sachtouris, Petros Mabatzas, etc. However, the financial performance was not commensurate with the editorial quality. In 1961 the publishing house found itself in a difficult position and Nikos Kallianesis decided to barge a captain in the merchant navy to help him financially. Cedar. This fact shows the suffocating situation of the book market during the dictatorial era.

NON-BUSINESS PUBLISHERS

The non-profit publishers' space is autonomous in relation to the book market. Their goal is purely educational with no expectation of profit, and this separates them from the book's product cycle. However, their course is parallel and, in terms of their publishing program, it is governed by the general trends of book production. Below is a brief outline of some of the most important:

THE Association for the Dissemination of Useful Books was founded in 1893 by Dimitrios Vikelas with the aim of disseminating cheap and popular books for the education of the people. It coincides with the preparation for the creation of the professional organization of the publishing houses and this is evident in the organization of its publishing production. After the defeat in the war of 1897, the spiritual upgrade of the society "to heal the wounds of the homeland through the education of the people" was added to its goals. The Association implemented its program with a series of 100 books of practical knowledge, which became widespread. Then he created a second series, with the first book the autobiography of its founder, while in its long history, the Association published two magazines.

A parallel effort was the Marasli Library. This, however, was more aimed at creating a national infrastructure library. It started in 1897 and in ten years created a significant series of books with 118 titles. It was financed by the rich benefactor Grigorios Maraslis, who lived in Odessa and was published through the Sakellariou printing house. Its conception and production, that is, refers to the words tradition, although a large network of collaborators was guided from Odessa to carry out the project.

The Academy started its publishing activity at a time when the publishing space was at its peak. He therefore collaborated publishing with a prestigious private publisher, Ioannis Collaros. After the war it created its own publishing mechanism.

A very interesting case is Political Literary Publications. It is a publishing house of the illegal KKE that operated in Romania and aimed to supply books to Greek political refugees in socialist countries. A large number of books of high quality and not only political content were published. PLE moved a little in Greece from hand to hand.

DICTATORSHIP 1967-1974

In 1966, in conditions of political unrest and diversion, there was a "publishing decline", which was expressed by a reduction in book production, a decrease in demand, a suspension of publishing houses in the absence of non-commercial publications. The rise in the index also played a role in this situation. In the general retreat the imposition of the dictatorship gave the free shot. At the juncture of the years 1966-1967, therefore, the post-war cycle of Greek publishing history ended.

The dictatorship of April 21, 1967 brought back the complete repression and persecution of the book. Much of the manpower from the publishing space was found in prison or exile. The writing world with an informal consent decided to stop publishing books as a protest against the conditions of freedom and censorship imposed by the new regime. Thus in the first year of dictatorial rule the book world was sealed with silence.

However, during the seven years that the junta lasted, the situation was reversed. The mood of resistance created a movement similar to that of the occupation years. First of all, the spiritual world broke its silence with the release of 18 Texts from the publications Cedar in 1968. At the same time, the world of book production offered refuge and a way of life to new forces, to people of the Left mainly, who had lost their jobs. Thus, during the first three years of the dictatorship, new publishing houses appeared with special dynamics. They were small in size, based on personal work and moved on a vague boundary between legality and illegality, but with strong quality characteristics. These are the editions Κάλβος, Thinker, Texts, International News and New Goals. Their production focused on classic texts of the Greek literature, historical and critical studies, literature and classic texts of bourgeois or Marxist culture in combination with texts of modern thinkers.

For example, the versions Κάλβος started with the allegorical Dragon of E. Schwartz. The 1969 editions followed Thinker post Texts by Rigas Velestinlis and the publications Texts with the classic novel by K. Theotokis, Price and money.

These publishing forms along with some new ones that appeared after 1970 ('70 Editions, Epicurus, Diogenes) and with some older publishers reactivating thanks to a relative easing of repression (by removing precautionary censorship) was the basis of a publishing inflation that erupted in the last three years before the fall of the junta - to be exact between 1970 and 1973. During this three-year period, a number of new publishing houses appeared in the Greek market with a significant offer. L. Axelos observes that "my claim that this period is one of the few where the circulation of ideas on equal terms is almost a fact" may seem paradoxical ". The publishing boom, especially of the political book, was clearly of a resistance nature and again met with a growing audience of book consumers. For the youth it was a crucial factor in its politicization. Its correlation with the Polytechnic uprising has been raised by Loukas Axelos and remains to be investigated more systematically. According to the very answers given by the publishers to a relevant research of EKEBI for the political book during the dictatorship, most of the reading public were "students and intellectuals". It is typical to refer to their introduction Texts of Rigas from the publications Thinker, that the publication is "an attempt to permanently connect with the hot past of our people's struggles for national independence". It is also indicative that after the fall of the dictatorship many of these publishing houses ceased their activities, which means that, as the head of the research Marianna Sotiropoulou observes, "their primary purpose and motivation was ideological awakening and not a professional relationship. with the book ".

The boom of the years 1970-1973 was fueled by the restructuring and reactivation of traditional publishing houses, which gathered considerable staffs, and by the mobility of the network of small bookstores, which created a chain of communication and exchange of young people. main reason. The whole grid of the book formed a space of freedom outside or next to the suffocatingly controlled political system. Even the kiosk book series (VIPER) that flooded the market included titles that fueled critical thinking. In general, the number of titles that were released and the places of contact of people with the book was so large that it was practically impossible to control. The systematic research of the history of the book during the dictatorship remains to be done ..

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Bibliography

• Research of EKEBI (1997-1999) for History of publishing houses in Greece [in the context of research: report Publishing activities, 1900-1940, March 1998 and Adventures of the book in Greece, 1880-1940 an anthology, National Book Center, 1998.]

• Loukas Axelos, Editorial activity and movement of ideas in Greece, Athens, Stochastis, 1984; 2nd edition: 2008.

• Ah. G. Kapsalis, DF Charalambous, School textbooks: Institutional development and modern problematic, Athens, Expression, 1995; Metaichmio, 2008.

• Marianna Sotiropoulou, The political book during the Dictatorship, research in the framework of EKEVI, Athens, National Book Center, 1997.

• The adventure of the book in Greece, Tribute to Seven Days of the newspaper "Kathimerini", May 9, 1999.

• Costas Chatziotis, Bookstores and publishing houses in Athens, 2 volumes, Athens, Municipality of Athens: Cultural Organization, 2000.

• Georgia Papageorgiou, Claire Mitsotaki, Texts 1969-1989: a moment in typography, Athens, Texts, 2002.

• Nikos Pantelakis, As if I were reading a book: the bookseller of Hestia is telling, Athens, Estia Bookstore, 2003.

• Collective work, Nineta Makrynikola (ed.), The Chronicle of Kedros: 1954-2004, Athens, Kedros, 2004.

• Emmanuela Nikolaidou, Eleftheroudaki Bookstore: people, books, a story, Athens, Eleftheroudakis, 2005.

• Anna Karakatsouli, In the land of books: the publishing history of the Hestia Bookstore, 1885-2010, Athens, The publications of Colleagues, 2011.

• Filippos Iliou, Popi Polemi, Greek bibliography 1864-1900: Brief inscription, 4 volumes, Athens, Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive (ELIA), 2006.

Source: ekebi.gr