Bibliological experiment as a market experiment? Comments to the article of Stanisław Adam Kondek

Abstract

Stanisław Adam Kondek, the author of the book "Papierowa rewolucja. Oficjalny obieg książek w Polsce w latach 1948-1955" (Warszawa 1999) [Paper revolution. Official books circulation in Poland in the years 1945-1955], published the article "Organizacja obiegu książek w PRL jako eksperyment bibliologiczny" [Organisation of books circulation in the People's Republic of Poland (PRP) as a bibliological experiment] in 2007. Marek Tobera refers to this text, while discussing mostly the situation of the book in the years 1950-1989, and analyzing factors influencing the book market in the administered command system in People's Republic of Poland and other socialist countries, headed by the USSR. The author proves that this bibliological experiment consisted mostly of negation of spontaneous social and economic processes relevant for capitalism, regulating the demand for certain types of publications and the degree of saturation of the book sales network with them. From this point of view, M. Tobera presented a synthesized picture of the book market in the PRP.