Croatian Written Heritage as a Historical Source: Occasional Verse and the Austrian Empire in the First Half of the 19th Century

Austrijsko Carstvo prve polovice 19. stoljeća obilježava snažna cenzura, koja velikim dijelom usmjerava i dalmatinsku knjižnu produkciju nakon što Bečkim kongresom 1815. godine Dalmacija postaje sastavnim dijelom Carstva. U njezinoj žanrovski i sadržajno relativno siromašnoj izdavačkoj i tiskarskoj djelatnosti velik dio cjelokupne knjižne proizvodnje čini prigodna poezija. Prigodnicama su bili popraćeni svi važni događaji vezani uz cara i članove carske obitelji (imendani, rođendani, posjeti cara), ali su obilježavana i razna javna događanja iz života visokoga klera ili plemstva (ustoličenja biskupa, mlade mise, zaruke, vjenčanja, smrti). O popularnosti prigodne poezije svjedoči i činjenica da su prigodnice čak naručivane, a viđeniji su ih građani katkad objavljivali i pod svojim imenom. Unatoč tomu, zbog svoga često slaboga umjetničkoga dometa, prigodnice rijetko nalaze svoje mjesto u antologijama lirike. No, iako katkad slabe umjetničke vrijednosti, one imaju veliku kulturnopovijesnu vrijednost. Cilj je ovoga rada stoga analizirati prigodnice s triju aspekata: društveno-političkog, kulturološkog i komunikološkog. Analizom je obuhvaćeno prigodno stihotvorstvo svih triju dalmatinskih izdavačkih i tiskarskih središta – Zadra, Splita i Dubrovnika – u razdoblju od 1815. do 1850. godine. Namjera je pokazati da prigodnice, odišući duhom lokalne dalmatinske sredine te odražavajući ne samo vrijeme u kojem nastaju nego i neka prošla vremena, predstavljaju vrlo vrijedan povijesni izvor.When Dalmatia became an integral part of the Austrian Empire by a decision of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, rigorous censorship affected book production in Dalmatia too. It remained both quantitatively and qualitatively behind much of Central and Western Europe. Its most significant part belonged to the occasional verse. Comprising approximately forty percent of the overall book production, it seemed to be the most popular (and acceptable) genre of the period, and it is one of the reasons why the 19th century has sometimes been called the “golden” age of the occasional verse. Occasional poetry was written for or prompted by a special occasion such as the Emperor’s birthday, a coronation, an anniversary, his arrival in the city, a funeral, etc. However, occasional poetry was also written to celebrate the engagements or weddings of the members of upper-class families or other significant events of their personal lives, to commemorate their funerals, etc. It was also produced for special occasions, such as bishop investiture, first mass of Catholic priests, etc. In spite of such great popularity, it can rarely be found in the collections of the most significant lyric poetry, being qualified as poetry without larger esthetic value. Only recently has it attracted the interest of researchers, mainly literary historians and Latinists. However, historians place it on the margins of their interest, although occasional verse may be regarded as a very precious historical source, which is the main point of this paper as well. The paper analyses occasional poetry from three aspects – socio-political, cultural and communicational, suggesting that it does not only reflect the age when it was written but also the past times. The analysis has been carried out on occasional verse printed in all three publishing and printing centres in Dalmatia of the period (1815–1850) – Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik. Research has shown that occasional verse was usually written in Italian and Latin and rarely in Croatian. A large part of occasional poetry was dedicated to the Habsburg Emperors Franjo I and Ferdinand I, the former Emperor being obviously more popular among the authors. The paper discusses the reasons for this popularity, suggesting that this kind of “court” occasional poetry was more common in Zadar and Split. On the other hand, Dubrovnik noted more occasional verse written to celebrate the important events in the lives of their patrician families, which suggests a strong aristocratic spirit of the historical Republic of Dubrovnik. The paper provides several examples of both kinds of occasional verse, and ends with the conclusion that occasional poetry does reflect the local (Dalmatian) spirit and can thus be considered an important historical source

Društvena ekskluzivnost čitateljskih društava u Dalmaciji tijekom prve polovice 19. stoljeća (EN)

Reading societies, known as the gabinetto di lettura, or the casino, appeared in Dalmatia in the middle of the 18th century modelled on their Western European, North Italian and Austrian counterparts. They became centres of social and cultural life in the region. However, their number was very small in comparison with other Central and Western European countries. In spite of that, their statutes can serve a historian as very fertile and useful historical sources. First of all, they can reveal the importance given to books and reading as well as changing attitude towards reading in the course of time. They can also indicate social structure of the reading circles as well as the interaction and communication among the members. In addition, they can reveal the participation of women in social and cultural life, internal functioning of the society, etc. Based on the statutes of several reading societies of the 19th century, this work suggests several important issues. First, it shows that in the first half of the 19th century the membership of these societies was still select and prestigious, acquired by position on the social scale. In other words, reading societies were still confined to very narrow social circles of the educated. Although in Western parts of Europe the reading public became more heterogeneous and open, in Dalmatia reading still preserved its exclusive features. Second, the work also suggests that what some historians of book and reading called the ”reading revolution” or ”revolution in reading” occurred in Dalmatia much later, and even then mostly in urban areas. Some changes in reading habits occurred in the region, albeit to a limited extent and with less influence on society as a whole. Third, the work also demonstrates that from the 1840s reading acquired a new dimension, becoming open to the more social strata and gradually losing its exclusive character. The reading societies, lending libraries and other cultural institutions established in the course of the 1840s did not limit their memberships by the social parameters. The only criterion seems to have been activity work for the benefit of the nation and its education. Yet, it may be concluded that what had happened in most of Central and Western Europe in the late 18th century, occurred in Dalmatia only at the very end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. However, without an actual account of the membership of these societies and their reading habits (still missing in Croatian historiography due to a lack of information on the members and their numbers), it is difficult to give a completely accurate picture of the degree to which reading became significant in the early 19th century. Along with information on the amount of money set aside for new reading material and the increase of the library inventories (which has not yet been found), this would certainly shed new light on the importance of books and reading had in the first half of the 19th century.   Keywords:Dalmatia; 19th century; reading; reading societies; ”reading revolution”; casino; gabinetto di letturaČitateljska su se društva, poznata i kao gabinetto di lettura ili kazina, u Dalmaciji pojavila sredinom 18. stoljeća, postavši središtima društvenoga i kulturnog života regije. Premda su nastala prema uzoru na slična zapadnoeuropska, sjevernotalijanska i austrijska društva, njihov je broj u usporedbi sa zemljama Srednje i Zapadne Europe bio veoma malen. Usprkos tomu, njihovi su statuti iznimno dragocjen i koristan povijesni izvor, koji nam može razotkriti ne samo važnost koja je pridavana knjizi i čitanju već i mijenjanje odnosa prema čitanju tijekom vremena. Statuti čitateljskih društava također mogu poslužiti pri rekonstrukciji društvene strukture čitateljskih krugova, kao i interakcije i komunikacije samih članova. Oni mogu rasvijetliti i pitanje sudjelovanja žena u cjelokupnome društvenom i kulturnom životu, razotkriti unutrašnje funkcioniranje društva itd.Ovaj rad, koji se temelji na analizi statuta nekoliko čitateljskih društava 19. stoljeća, donosi nekoliko zaključaka. Ponajprije ukazuje na to da je u prvoj polovici 19. stoljeća članstvo u čitateljskim društvima još uvijek bilo determinirano položajem na društvenoj ljestvici i rezervirano samo za uzak krug obrazovanih. Premda je u Zapadnoj Europi čitateljstvo bilo znatno heterogenije, a članstvo u čitateljskim društvima otvoreno svim društvenim slojevima, u Dalmaciji je čitanje zadržalo obilježja ekskluzivnosti. Rad također ukazuje na to da se pojava koju pojedini povjesničari knjige i čitanja nazivaju „čitateljskom revolucijom” ili „revolucijom čitanja” u Dalmaciji zbila znatno kasnije, a čak i tada većinom u urbanim krajevima, te su stoga promjene u čitateljskim navikama bile uglavnom ograničenog dosega i utjecaja na cjelokupno društvo. Nadalje, rad ukazuje i na to da od 1840-ih godina čitanje zadobiva novu dimenziju, postajući dostupno i širim društvenim slojevima te gubeći pritom postupno svoje ekskluzivne karakteristike. Čitateljska društva, posudbene knjižnice i druge kulturne institucije utemeljene tijekom 1840-ih godina nisu svoje članstvo ograničavale društvenim parametrima. Jedini je uvjet bilo djelovanje za dobrobit nacije i njezino prosvjetljenje. Naposljetku, može se zaključiti da su se promjene na području kulture čitanja, koje su se u Srednjoj i Zapadnoj Europi zbile potkraj 18. stoljeća, u Dalmaciji dogodile tek krajem 19. ili čak početkom 20. stoljeća. Međutim, točnu procjenu promjene odnosa prema čitanju i rastu njegove važnosti početkom 19. stoljeća teško je dati bez analiza strukture članstva i čitateljskih navika samih članova te visine iznosa koji su izdvajani za nabavu nove građe i povećanje knjižnog fonda, a koje do sada još nisu učinjene u hrvatskoj historiografiji zbog nedostatka povijesnih izvora. Takvo bi istraživanje zacijelo dodatno rasvijetlilo ulogu koju su knjige i čitanje imali u Dalmaciji tijekom prve polovice 19. stoljeća

Uvodna riječ

Uvodna riječ urednice Libellariuma povodom objavljivanja 14, 1 (2023) broja časopisa

Uvodna riječ

Uvodnik u novi broj časopisa Libellarium

IN THE SPIRIT OF TRADITION, RELIGION AND MORAL EDUCATION: BOOK PRODUCTION IN DALMATIA OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

The aim of this article is to investigate the character of book production in Dalmatia from 1815 when Dalmatia became an integral part of the Austrian Empire until the middle of the 19th century, the period dominated by the re­pressive politics of Chancellor Metternich (1809–1848) and his severe system of censorship. At the time, the publishing business still overlapped with the printing activity and it was limited to only five publishing houses situated in Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik. The article shows the results of the extensive research made according to two criteria: the intensity and (dis)continuity of book production as well as its subject and genre variety and/or uniformity. The analysis is based on a database resulting from archival research as well as from consulting many bibliographical sources and library catalogues. It shows that compared with the Western European countries of the age, whose annual production was expressed in thousands, book publishing in Dalmatia was quite restricted not only in numbers but also in the variety of subjects and genres. Metternich’s rigorous censorship, which constrained and regu­lated not only book production but also the entire system of dissemination and consumption of the printed word, as well as a religious revival that the Catholic Church in Dalmatia experienced at the time, were undoubtedly the most important causes for such a traditional and conservative character. The religious authorities claimed that moral education and spiritual knowledge was still the main purpose assigned to the printed word, considering it to be their sacred duty to safeguard the purity of faith and take care of the moral of their faithful, while the state authorities wished to direct beliefs and atti­tudes of their citizens, keeping them within an acceptable moral and political framework that led towards loyalty and obedience

The Osijek Writer Vilma Vukelić from a History of Reading Perspective

Slijedeći metodološki okvir Roberta Darntona i njegov mikroanalitički pristup u istraživanju povijesti čitanja, ovaj rad nastoji rekonstruirati čitateljski profil još uvijek nedovoljno poznate osječke književnice Vilme Vukelić. Na temelju sadržajne analize autoričinih memoara i obiteljske kronike njezina unuka nastoji se utvrditi što je autorica čitala tijekom života, što je i tko utjecao na formiranje njezina čitateljskoga ukusa, zašto je i kako čitala te što su za nju knjige i čitanje predstavljali. Rezultati analize daju prilično detaljan uvid u njezin čitateljski svijet u razdoblju djevojaštva, a o čitateljskim preferencijama u zreloj dobi, kad se više posvetila pisanju, znamo nešto manje. Ipak, i tako djelomična rekonstrukcija njezina čitateljskoga profila otkriva da je bila velika ljubiteljica knjige i čitanja, dobra poznavateljica europske i domaće literature te da je zainteresirano pratila idejna i politička strujanja prve polovine XX. stoljeća, koja su zasigurno imala velikoga utjecaja na oblikovanje autoričinih feminističkih i ljevičarskih nazora.Following the methodological framework of Robert Darnton and his micro-analytical approach to studying the history of reading, this paper attempts to reconstruct the reading profile of Vilma Vukelić, a still insufficiently known Croatian writer who expressed herself in German. By applying a content analysis of the author’s memoirs and the extensive family chronicle of her grandson, the aim is to determine what Vilma Vukelić read during her life, who and what influenced her reading tastes, why and how she read, the context of her reading habits, and what books and reading meant to her. The results of the analysis offer a fairly detailed insight into the reading world of her youth, but we know somewhat less about her reading preferences as an adult, when she devoted herself more to writing. Still, even such a partial reconstruction of her reading profile reveals that Vilma Vukelić was a great lover of books and reading, well-acquainted with European and Croatian literature, and that she followed the literary trends as well as the ideas and political currents of the first half of the 20th century with interest. The books she read certainly had a great influence on shaping her feminist and left-wing views

Dalmacija i Austrijsko Carstvo prve polovine 19. stoljeća: pisana riječ u službi stvaranja poslušnih i lojalnih građana

Rad ukazuje na način na koji su austrijske vlasti nastojale, po ulasku Dalmacije u sastav Austrijskoga Carstva, svoje nove građane odgojiti u duhu lojalnosti i poslušnosti. Istraživanje je temeljeno na analitičkoj interpretaciji raznovrsnih pisanih izvora tiskanih u Dalmaciji u prvih trideset i pet godina austrijske vladavine (1815.-1850.)

Dalmacija i Austrijsko Carstvo prve polovine 19. stoljeća: pisana riječ u službi stvaranja poslušnih i lojalnih građana

Rad ukazuje na način na koji su austrijske vlasti nastojale, po ulasku Dalmacije u sastav Austrijskoga Carstva, svoje nove građane odgojiti u duhu lojalnosti i poslušnosti. Istraživanje je temeljeno na analitičkoj interpretaciji raznovrsnih pisanih izvora tiskanih u Dalmaciji u prvih trideset i pet godina austrijske vladavine (1815.-1850.)

Introductory words

Uvodnik u novi broj časopisa Libellarium.Introduction to the new issue of Libellarium