31 
The History of the Book in Modern Greece, c.1453–2000
31 ALEXIS POLITIS
The history of modern Greek books can be divided into two periods: before and after 1820. The early printing of Greek books occurred outside Greek territory, on presses partly owned by Greeks. After 1820, numerous presses operated in the Greek state and in eastern Mediterranean towns.
The first modern Greek book—that is, a book written in the Greek language (though not necessarily in the modern tongue) and printed for the Greek public—is Constantinus Lascaris’ grammar (Milan, 1476). Modern Greek society readily adapted to the appearance of printed books, and several Greeks contributed to their development. Greeks cut various typefaces, and in the late 15th century, Zacharias Callierges and Nikolaos Vlastos founded the earliest Greek press. The first Greek books, however, were printed in Italy, and, by the early 16th century, several Italian printers sought to expand into the Orthodox East, starting Greek-interest presses in Venice. Approximately 440 titles had been printed by 1600, mostly for liturgical or educational use; modern Greek literary works were far less numerous.
This pattern persisted during the early 17th century: Greek books were printed by Italian publishers, most appearing in Venice. In 1627, Patriarch Cyril Lukaris attempted to found a press at Constantinople, but ultimately failed; his printer, Nicodemo Metaxàs, was forced to seek refuge on the Ionian Islands. In 1670 the first Greek firm appeared: Nikolaos Glykis bought a Venetian publishing house, which his descendants maintained until 1854. A second Greek press was started by Nikolaos Saros in 1686. Greek publishing almost doubled during this period, bearing witness to significant market demand in the Orthodox East. Liturgical texts, together with religious books, accounted for approximately three-quarters of the output. Only a third of the books were new, the rest being reissues.
In the first half of the 18th century, Venice remained the main centre for Greek books, with output determined by educational and religious requirements. Presses began operating in the semi-autonomous principalities of present-day Romania (see 33) and in Albania (see 38), but the printing office at Moschopolis produced only fifteen books between 1725 and 1755. By the century’s end, a press was established on Mount Athos, along with others in Constantinople and Corfu. Little popular literature appeared, although some older works were published, including Georgios Chortatzis’s 16th-century Erophile and Vicenzos Cornaros’s 16th–17th-century Erotocritos (1713). After 1750, the coming of the Enlightenment brought rapid change.
The Greek Enlightenment’s first book was Eugenios Voulgaris’ Logic (Leipzig, 1766). By the century’s end, the cultural landscape in Ottoman-occupied Greece resembled Europe’s: schools proliferated, scientific works were translated, and a small number of people travelled or studied in Europe. This coincided with significant social changes and incipient revolution. As the new merchant class increased in numbers and gained in social power, Rhigas Velestinlis published pamphlets (Vienna, 1797) calling for a national uprising.
These changes are reflected in book production. In the first two decades of the 19th century, the number of books reached approximately 1,400, or 35 per cent of the total national output of 5,000 titles between 1476 and 1820. Simultaneously, the numbers of reprints and of religious books fell. Production in Venice declined proportionally from 80 per cent to 50 per cent, with 25 per cent being printed in Vienna; production in Constantinople, where a press controlled by the patriarchate was founded in 1798, was insignificant.
Qualitative changes were more marked, with books appearing in the fields of philosophy, science (mostly translations), classics, and language instruction; literary output, mostly plays in translation, remained insubstantial. As intellectual circles grew, the Vienna-based periodical Ermis o Logios (The Learned Hermes, 1811–21) became a rallying point for progressives, whose leading light was Adamantios Coray.
The formats and press runs of books varied considerably. Ecclesiastical books were generally printed as quartos, school and scientific works in octavo, and popular literature in smaller formats. The normal size of editions seems to have been 500–1,000 copies, but larger numbers were not unknown, particularly for liturgical works and school textbooks.
Bookshops first appeared in early 19th-century Constantinople. Books were sold either by orders placed with general merchants or by colporteurs at trade fairs. However, the mid-18th century saw the advent and growth of subscription publishing: handwritten or printed advertisements for the book were circulated, and once there were enough subscribers, it would be printed, with a subscription list. Most scientific and new books were published in this manner.
Public libraries were similarly lacking. Several monasteries had libraries, typically formed from bequests by monks or prelates; however, they were rarely used. From the early 19th century onwards, however, school libraries were established in Chios, Smyrna, Milies on Mount Pelion, and Kozani. Private libraries were rarer. By the 16th century, several major libraries survived in Constantinople. The Maurokordatos family established a significant library (c.1720), gathering printed books from Europe and attempting to collect the entire modern Greek output by copying monastic MSS; the library was broken up c.1765. In the early 19th century, several private Greek libraries were established in Europe and on the Ionian Islands, some of which still survive.
Between the Greek declaration of independence in March 1821 and the arrival of the first king of Greece in January 1833, centuries-old assumptions were overturned in every part of life. Printing presses donated by European philhellenic committees were established in the newly free state at Kalamata, Missolonghi, Athens, and Hydra. Although a mere 5–6 per cent of all Greek books printed in 1821–30 were produced on free territory, they redrew the ideological landscape. By 1850 there were more than 50 printing offices in Greek territory and the Ionian Islands, primarily in Athens where the government was based; by 1863, there were 35 more. Although few of the presses were long-lived or prolific, the book market was dynamic.
The most important press was owned by an Athenian, Andreas Coromilas, who specialized in school textbooks and literature. In 1833–6, his presses produced 70,000 copies, overshadowing the 29,000 produced by his four major rivals. He introduced stereotyping (1840) and opened a branch in Constantinople (1842). He printed more than 300 titles in all, mostly textbooks, dictionaries, or scientific works. The business survived until 1884.
Athens gradually increased its lead in book production. Of the c.9,000 Greek books produced in 1828–63, half were printed there; 500 in Constantinople (5.5 per cent); 450 in Smyrna and Hermopolis (5 per cent); and 600 in Venice (6.5 per cent). In 1864–1900, c.32,000 Greek books were produced; Athens’s and Constantinople’s share of the market increased, while that of the other places fell. Annual book production grew tenfold between 1820 and 1900. As the economy improved and population increased, new and better-organized publishing houses appeared, creating distinctive series (plays, handbooks, pocket books).
At the end of the War of Independence, bookshops run by foreigners appeared on Greek territory (Nafplio, Hermopolis, Athens); their number increased c.1840 in Constantinople and in Athens after 1850. By 1877 Athens had 16 bookshops, Constantinople 8, Smyrna 5, and Hermopolis 4, with another 24 in 11 provincial towns.
Subscription publishing, often used by provincial booksellers, retained wide currency. It peaked c.1880 with 153,000 named subscribers to 213,000 copies, but declined after 1890, disappearing by the following century. To facilitate ordering, publishers and booksellers printed catalogues, which are now a primary source of information on book distribution from 1860. After 1850, books (particularly novels) were sold by serial publication in numbers with newspapers. Assisted by the foundation of the press distribution agency in 1877, this practice of issuing fascicles was also applied to such books as the second edition of the History of the Greek Nation (1892), by Constantinos Paparrigopoulos, and the 79-volume scientific series ‘Maraslis Library’ (1897–1908).
Before 1821, Coray had proposed creating a central National Library; an initial core collection was assembled at Aegina in 1829. The University of Athens Library was founded in 1838, and housed in a building shared (1842–1903) by the National Library of Greece. The Parliament Library opened in 1845 and grew rapidly thereafter. Other public or municipal libraries either languished or relied on private donations. An attempt to establish a network of school libraries was bogged down by bureaucracy.
Between 1901 and c.1925, Greek publishing was dominated by Georgios Fexis’ firm, founded in 1888. Initially relying on cheap novels, a ‘drama library’, and similar series, he bought Venice’s last publishing house in 1901, producing more than 300 titles in six years about subjects including law, medicine, language learning, modern history, and practical matters.
During the wars of 1912–22, the reading public grew and Greek territory doubled, allowing the creation of several new publishing houses. The most important were Eleftheroudakis (1877–1962), Sideris (1874–1928), Georgios Vasileiou (1888–1932), Zikakis (1883–1925), Ganiaris (1894–1966), and Govostis (1904–58). Several smaller publishers active in the 1920s created literary or philosophical series, translating 19th-century European works and fostering modern Greek literature. Perhaps the best indicator of financial and intellectual vigour was the publication of the Great Greek Encyclopaedia (1926–34), a 24-volume work produced by Paul Drandake. Related developments include the creation of the Aspiotis-ELKA graphic design workshop, which produced major art publications until the 1980s, and the foundation of the Gennadius Library (1926). In 1926, Greece’s second university was founded in Thessaloniki, followed a year later by the Academy of Athens; both formed noteworthy libraries. This period also saw the publication of the twelve-volume Eleftheroudakis Encyclopaedic Dictionary/Lexicon (1927–31), followed by the nine-volume Major Dictionary of the Greek Language (1936–50) by Demetrios Demetrakos-Mesiskles.
During World War II, literary publishing blossomed. In the absence of European imports, Greek books gained readers, some books generating queues outside bookshops, and some editions selling out in days. New publishing houses appeared on the scene, including the short-lived Glaros (Seagull), Ikaros, headed by Nikos Karydis, and Alpha, run by Ioannis Skazikis.
The 48-volume ‘Basic Library’, the first series to anthologize a substantial body of modern Greek literature, appeared between 1953 and 1958. In 1955, Atlantis, the earliest five-colour rotogravure press, was established. State literature and essay prizes were inaugurated in 1958, as was the National Research Foundation’s Centre for Modern Greek Research, which has worked systematically on the history of the Greek book.
In the 1960s, the Galaxy Press emerged, producing the first successful series of pocket books featuring quality Greek and foreign literature; its 300 titles were often reprinted, some poetry volumes running to 5,000 copies. Kedros Press, which promoted modern literature, also appeared at this time. The 1967 dictatorship impeded literary activity; in an act of passive resistance, several authors voluntarily stopped publishing until 1970. After that year, there was a miniature publishing boom, comprising small new publishing houses (mostly left-leaning) as well as a new, cheaper series of pocket books: Viper Books (by Papyros Press) numbered 2,650 titles in ten years, selling one million copies in 1971. Other signs of this blossoming include the inauguration of the Modern Greek Library series (by Hermes) and Ekdotiki Athinon’s multi-volume History of the Greek Nation.
In 1990, books became a trade commodity, sold in supermarkets and attracting the interest of big business. After 1995, most newspapers included a weekly books supplement or dedicated several pages to books. Oddly, the circulation of pocket books dwindled; popular bestsellers appeared in the same format as quality literature, often issued by the same publishing houses. The 21st century has been marked by the establishment of multi-story book ‘megastores’ (e.g. Eleftheroudakis, Ianos, Fnac) in city centres and suburbs. The explosion in book publishing seems unlikely to abate: the 7,450 titles published in 2001 rose to 9,209 in 2006.
L. Droulia, History of the Greek Book (2001) [in Greek]
D. S. Ginis and V. Mexas, Greek Bibliography 1800–1863 (3 vols, 1939–57) [in Greek]
P. Iliou, Additions to the Greek Bibliography (1515–1799) (1973) [in Greek]
——— Greek Bibliography 1800–1818 (1998) [in Greek]
——— and P. Polemi, Greek Bibliography 1864–1900 (2006) [in Greek]
A. Koumarianou et al., The Greek Book 1476–1830 (1986) [in Greek]
E. Legrand, Bibliographie hellénique: XVe–XVIe siècles (4 vols, 1885–1906)
——— Bibliographie hellénique: XVIIe siècle (5 vols, 1894–1903)
——— Bibliographie hellénique: XVIIIe siècle (2 vols, 1918–28)
National Book Centre, www.ekebi.gr, consulted Sept. 2007
National Documentation Centre, www.argo.ekt.gr, consulted Sept. 2007
D. E. Rhodes, Incunabula in Greece (1980)
K. S. Staikos, Charta of Greek Printing (1998)
——— and T. E. Sklavenitis, eds., The Publishing Centres of the Greeks (2001)
——— The Printed Greek Book, 15th–19th Centuries (2004) [in Greek]