A. Thomson and the History of Books in Albanian

Abstract

An important part in writing the history of a nation’s culture is also played by the history of this nation’s books. The 1860-1894 period, which corresponds to Alexander Thomson’s years of service among Albanians, is an important period in the history of books in Albanian. This is the stage when this history entered its modern phase. The question arises: How is this historical period and its impact described and registered? This research draws an approach between the reality of books in Europe, not limited to this period, and the situation of publications in the Albanian language. Before Thomson began his work of publications in the Albanian language, the reality of books in Albanian was such that, according to us, they could not reach a sufficient mass of people to be considered an influential factor in the history of the formation of the national identity. When Thomson ended his service among Albanians in the Albanian language, the contribution of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the British Association for Religious Brochures had brought over 20 titles of publications to existence, and one of the greatest merits of this work was bringing books to a broad number of simple readers, books that were the same as ordinary European publications of the era.

Keywords: history of books, circulation, document, mother tongue, national identity, the Bible.