New Discoveries in N. A. Rubakin’s Works

In the review of the monograph by Yury Nikolayevich Stolyarov (Stolyarov Yu. N. Rubakin regained / Yu. N. Stolyarov. – Moscow: RSLA (Russian School Library Association), 2019. – 416 p. : il.)

Yu. Stolyarov’s contribution to studying N. A. Rubakin’s legacy is emphasized. This publication is a unique, large scale study of Nikolay (Nicholas) A. Rubakin’s comprehensive creative and social activities as a library scientist, bibliographer, bibliognost, expert in psychology and sociology of reading, science communicator, talented writer, educator and a person of encyclopedic knowledge. The author’ respectful and efficient use of the research potential of dialectical approach enables to prove, at the substantial methodological level, the viability of Rubakin's main scientific brainchild, the theory of bibliopsychology based on an objective research framework and an unprecedented empirical findings. For the first time, the monograph author introduces significant factual and documentary evidence into scientific discourse, and proves that the method developed by Rubakin interrelating the book and the reader was ahead of time by a century. The influence of N. A. Rubakin’s predecessors, his teachers and students and their contributions to the theory and methods of bibliopsychology are discussed. Rubakin’s bibliopsychological portraits of prominent figures of his time are also of great scientific and historical value. The reviewers emphasize that Yu. N. Stolyarov’s monograph enriches significantly the library science, and is to facilitate further understanding of N. A. Rubakin’s contribution to the world book culture.