Once upon a time, people carved words into stones. In Ancient Greece, Egypt and Babylon, the school notebook was a smooth earthen area or wet clay tablets. A clay primer would probably weigh fifty kilograms! But at that time, textbooks were not carried home, clay tablets were kept at school, and students came there early in the morning and left at night.
Later they began to write on papyrus and parchment. In medieval Novgorod they wrote on birch bark. During excavations, archaeologists found a birch bark notebook of a boy named Onfim. He copied the alphabet into this notebook and drew little men...

First printed books

Only in the 15th century did the turn of printing come. It was not easy to print the first books. All the words and pictures were cut out on the board, but not the way we read them, but as if reflected in a mirror. Then paint was applied to the board, applied to the paper, and the correct impression of the page was obtained on the sheet.
Later, in the 40s of the 15th century, the German inventor Johannes Gutenberg came up with a typeface that could be used many times. The letters were not cut out on one board, but each on a separate block. I printed one book, take the set apart, sort it and type a new one...
It is difficult to name a more important invention in the history of mankind! If previously a book was copied by hand, it existed in a single copy and was incredibly expensive, but now it was possible to print many books, and they became much cheaper.

Sovereign Printing Yard in Moscow

Ivan the Terrible tried to expel printing masters from abroad. It was probably not beneficial for other states for a large, strong country to also become a literate country. The masters never arrived in Russia.

This portrait of Ivan Fedorov was painted by an unknown artist of the 19th century. In the upper left corner is the printed sign of Ivan Fedorov, which was on all his books.

And yet, in Moscow in 1563, the first printing house was opened - the Sovereign Printing House. On behalf of Ivan IV, Ivan Fedorov took up the business of printing. Apparently, he was an educated and knowledgeable person, if such an important matter was entrusted to him. The first books printed in Russia were church books.
However, soon Ivan Fedorov went to Poland. At that time, the Polish state included part of the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands. Scientists were at a loss for a long time: why did he leave? Fedorov himself, in the preface to the Apostle, published in Lvov, wrote that “spiritual superiors” fought with him. For a long time this was not clear. It was believed that Ivan Fedorov published only church books. It would seem that this should have pleased the clergy: books needed by the church are published in printing houses in large editions...
So, the reasons for Ivan Fedorov’s departure from Moscow remained unknown. Moreover, books of secular, non-ecclesiastical content began to be published in Russia much later, many years after the death of Ivan Fedorov - this is what scientists believed until recently. He died in Lvov in 1583, and the first Russian ABC, compiled by Vasily Burtsev, was published in Moscow only in 1634.

"Lviv ABC"

Title page of "Grammar" by Ivan Fedorov. Look, the alphabet of that time seems to be similar to ours. But there are also letters here, especially at the end, that are unfamiliar to you, dead. The very last one was called “Izhitsa”, the one on the far right in the next row was “yus”, above it was “fita”.

And in the twenties of the 20th century, a small book was found in Rome - “Grammar” (“Lviv ABC”), published in 1574 with the Drukhar stamp of Ivan Fedorov. At that time, many Drukhari printers had their own emblems. They were placed at the end of the book, just as we now put our signature on a letter.
There are two pictures on the last page of the Grammar. On one of them is the coat of arms of the city of Lvov, the second is the seal of Ivan Fedorov. This sign is on all his books. It resembles a shield, and on the shield are the letters: “I O A N.”
In the afterword to “Grammar,” Ivan Fedorov introduced his work to the reader as follows:
“I did not write this little on my own, but from the teachings of the divine apostles and God-bearing fathers and from the grammar of the Venerable Father John of Damascus, reducing it to a small amount, and putting it together for the quick education of children. And if my works turn out to be worthy of your mercy, accept them with love. And I "I am willingly ready to work on other books that please you, if God grants through your holy prayers. Amen."
The Lviv ABC has eighty pages. On the title page are all the letters of the Russian alphabet of that time. The book got its name from the first letters “Az” and “Buki”. After the alphabet there are tables of syllables and conjugations. The examples show how the meaning of a word changes depending on stress. The primer contains prayers and sayings about the benefits of literacy and education.

Feat of a printer

Not so long ago, in our days, we managed to find another edition of Fedorov’s “Grammar”. It was published four years after the first one.
It became clear that Ivan Fedorov published not only church books. There is an assumption that he intended to open Russian schools in Lviv (there were many Russians in Poland at that time). Ivan Fedorov understood that only education would make Russia strong and prosperous. And education begins with the ABC...
This is probably why Fedorov had to leave Moscow. His desire to print “Primers” and “Grammars”, and not just church books, caused discontent among the metropolitan and his associates. After leaving, he lived in Zabludov, Lvov, Ostrog and set up printing houses everywhere and published Russian books.
Fedorov failed to do everything he had in mind. But he was the first to publish books to educate our people. And this is the feat of Ivan Fedorov.
The day of September 8 can be called the Day of the Russian Primer. On September 8, 1574, in Lvov, in one of the cells of the Onufrievsky Monastery, the printing of the “Grammar” was completed.

History of the Primer

In Old Russian, the first letter of the alphabet is called az, the second is called buki. So it turned out az-buki, or alphabet. And the word primer means “collection of letters,” just like a dictionary means “collection of words.”

Initially, the alphabet was understood as an alphabet adapted for teaching literacy. The oldest Slavic alphabet in the form of inscriptions scratched on the walls of buildings dates back to the 9th century. The oldest Russian educational alphabet dates back to the 11th century and was written on a birch bark letter. The ABC is older than the Primer.

Primers began to be called printed alphabets, which included not only the alphabet and syllables, but also reading material.

The primer is a textbook for teaching literacy, a guide for the development of speech and logical thinking in children.

In Russia, the first Slavic-Russian primer appeared in 1574 by Ivan Fedorov. The primer was written in Old Church Slavonic. Some of its pages are decorated with patterns of intertwining leaves, buds, flowers and cones. The first page is occupied by 45 lowercase letters. Moreover, the alphabet is given in forward and reverse order. This technique of repeating the alphabet helped improve memorization. This primer contains both two- and three-letter syllables and punctuation marks. It also has sections on grammar and spelling. The reading material includes prayers, parables, and instructions.

The modern alphabet has 33 letters. Each letter means a sound (with the exception of a soft sign and a hard sign). There are sounds of consonants and vowels.

The vowels stretch out in a ringing song,

They may cry and scream

Can cradle a baby in a crib

But they don’t want to whistle and grumble.

And the consonants agree

Rustle, whisper, creak,

Even snort and hiss,

But I don’t want to sing to them.

(Valentina Berestova about vowels and consonants)

Consonant sounds can be voiced or unvoiced.

I, Yo, Yu, I, E will be soft.

Sounds in syllables before vowels A, O, U, Y, E will be hard.

For every sound you can come up with a word.

Conclusion: Sounds live in the words around us.

On August 20, 1634, Moscow publisher Vasily Burtsov published the first domestic edition of the Primer of the Slovenian Language, and from 1872 to 1875, Leo Tolstoy “brought to fruition” his ABC, postponing work on the novel Anna Karenina.

The first Slavic “ABC” was printed in Lvov in 1574 Ivan Fedorov. But the publication was so limited that it never reached the general public. Today, only one copy of this book has survived, stored in the Harvard University library.

A more accessible printed Primer of Slavic languages ​​was born in Lithuanian Vilno (modern Vilnius) in 1596 under the authorship Lavrentia Zizania. But it never received wide circulation, like the subsequent edition of 1618. The reason is banal - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was part of the Polish Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where they preferred to use the Latin alphabet for reading and writing rather than the Slavic Cyrillic alphabet.

But the publication of the Primer in 1634 in Moscow hit the nail on the head. Firstly, it turned out to be extremely popular among the Russian-speaking population, and secondly, the printer Burtsov created a real masterpiece that was interesting to read not only for adults, but also for children.

History does not know when Vasily Burtsov was born, but he died after 1648. But the “Primer” created by this man gave an incredible impetus to the development of Russian culture and increasing the literacy of the population.

Orthodox book for everyone

In the book one could find the Slavic alphabet, numbers, punctuation marks and syllables, poems for memorizing words in alphabetical order, as well as the most important excerpts from the Old and New Testaments. Vasily Burtsov personally wrote the preface for adults and teachers, as well as a poetic message to students.

He highlighted the capital letters and sections of the Primer in red, and on the frontispiece (a picture located on the same spread as the title page) he placed a picture in which a teacher punishes an insufficiently diligent student with rods.

In 1637, the second edition of Burtsov's Primer was further reduced in size (87/139 mm), becoming the standard textbook for “first-graders” for many years.

Primer for nobles by Karion Istomin

The next compiler of the primer was the teacher of the children of the royal family Karion Istomin. It was he who prepared and published in 1694 for the training of the prince Alexey(son PetraI) “A primer of Slavic-Russian writings...”

True, it was not really a book, but a set of 46 copper tablets, each of which was engraved with one of the letters of the alphabet, corresponding pictures and moralizing explanations. Pictures and texts taught how to lead a correct lifestyle, not sin, and love God and the king.

A total of 106 copies of this Primer were produced, and they instantly scattered among the Russian noble class.

Folk ABC by Leo Tolstoy

According to one version, in the childhood of the future classic of Russian literature Lev Tolstoy They were taught using the ABC books of Burtsov and Istomin, which by that time were somewhat outdated.

Already in adulthood, the famous writer drew attention to the general illiteracy of the population and decided to help the “peasants” get rid of it. In 1872, at his own expense, he published four large books, united under the general title “ABC”.

Leading teachers of that time mercilessly criticized the “primitiveness” of its language, not realizing that the textbook was written specifically for common people. From 1872 to 1875, Leo Tolstoy “finished” his “ABC”, postponing work on the novel “ Anna Karenina" The writer teaches children correct behavior, religious humility and rejection of revolutionary ideas.

And it gave stunning results. Before the Soviet alphabet reform of 1918 alone, Tolstoy’s ABC went through more than 30 reprints, and many of today’s textbooks contain excerpts from it.

With the advent of Soviet power, it was decided to end illiteracy in the country forever. But it was necessary to teach not so much children as adults, and to teach in accordance with the new ideology.

In the “Military Primer” of 1919 and “The ABC of the Red Army Soldier” of 1921, pictures of the letters of the alphabet became ideologically literate and taught soldiers to wage a merciless fight against the White Guard.

In 1919, he took part in the design of the same propaganda “Soviet ABC” Vladimir Mayakovsky, mercilessly denouncing the bourgeoisie and their accomplices.

"Primer" by Nikolai Golovin (1937)

In the late 1930s and 1940s, children of the vast Soviet Union learned to read and write from it. In the book Nikolai Golovin There was no longer any post-revolutionary aggression, and students again began to be taught patterns of correct behavior.

The pictures became bright, simple and positive, and the texts and poems told about childhood Lenin And Stalin. After the exposure of Stalin's personality cult, stories and poems about him were withdrawn, but new editions of the Primers were still kept in the spirit of Soviet ideology.

“Primer” by Vseslav Goretsky (1971)

Representatives of the older generation call this publication the most understandable and kind. The author taught schoolchildren letters in a playful way, for the first time starting to teach them with the widespread vowels A and O.

Schoolchildren learned to read along with fairy-tale characters Pinocchio, Dunno And Murzilka solving funny riddles and puzzles, and easy-to-remember poems Alexandra Pushkina, Korney Chukovsky, Samuil Marshak And Agni Barto helped develop memory.

Goretsky's primer went through more than 30 reprints. The book, which became a real bestseller, continued to be published even after the collapse of the USSR, until it was replaced by more modern, but not nearly as interesting textbooks.

In the new “Primers” and “ABCs” there are no longer any references to Soviet ideology, but there are new words that have firmly entered our everyday life from Western culture.