Publishing Projects of Mychajlo Rudnytskyi During the Interwar Period

Abstract

In article the insufficiently known aspect of Mychajlo Rudnytskyi activity is covered: his publishing projects. The history of M. Rudnytskyi’s formation as a publisher, his cooperation with the Polish bookstore Bernard Polonecki, as well as with the Kyiv publishers are considered. The period of M. Rudnytskyi’s publishing activity in Kyiv was studied, in particular, on the materials of his correspondence with M. Zerov. M. Rudnytskyi’s views on the Ukrainian publishing process of the interwar period, its current state, tasks and prospects are analyzed; in particular, the orientation of Rudnytskyi’s publishing projects to the popular, or, more precisely, to the commercial aspects of the publishing repertoire. The focus is on cooperation with the publishing house Izmarahd, in particular with the publisher Mychajlo Matchak. The article examines Mychajlo Matchak’s publishing views, his way of implementing a non-profit publishing project so that it becomes profitable and financially sustainable. The repertoire of the publishing house and M. Rudnytskyi’s cooperation with this publishing house are analyzed.

The article contains also the issues of the implementation of the largescale publishing project «Biblioteka “Dila”», the main editor of which was M. Rudnytskyi: the history and the publishing tradition of Dilo magazine, the concept of this publishing series, the organizer, the financial director responsible for publishing stability and commercial success of which was Dmytro Levytskyi. The repertoire for the two sections of the series is analyzed: the section of original works of contemporary Ukrainian literature and the section of translations of world literature. The article contains materials of interest to researchers of the book and publishing process of the interwar period, as well as to historians of literature and translation scholars.