HISTORIOGRAPHY AND SOURCES OF THE ESTONIAN BOOK SCIENCE IN THE YEARS 1918–1944

Estonian-language written and printed word has had an important role in the for-mation and maintaining of the national identity. The first attempts to gather infor-mation about the books in Estonian language were made already in 1656: the introduction to the Estonian language church book Hand- Hausz- und Kirchen-Buch listed seven books that were printed since 1554 [14, 14]. The more serious activities in studying the local book and library history started in the middle of the 19th century together with the formation of the first scientific societies – Gelehrte Estnische Gesellschaft (the Learned Estonian Society, 1838) and Estländische Literärische Gesellschaft (the Estonian Literary Society, 1842). Both societies joined the Baltic Germans who were interested in the history of their homeland (Vaterland). The Estonian Literary Society concentrated in studying the history and nature of the country and on acquireing foreign language books printed in Estonia and Baltica. The Learned Estonian Society drew main attention to the study of the development of the Estonian language and literature. The members of the society started to write down oral folk traditions (folk songs, stories, legends) and to gather books i