«IT IS THE WEST WHO TAUGHT IT TO US»: FORMATION OF RUSSIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA STUDIES IN TSARIST RUSSIA

The article analyses main stages in the development of Russian national encyclopedias. The way to first Russian encyclopedias coincided with the development of Russian intellectual elite and struggle with foreign influence and spirit within Russian academia. First Russian encyclopedias tried to copy the structure and the content of the famous foreign encyclopedias such as British Britannica, German Brockhaus and French Encyclopedie. First Russian national Brockhaus-Efron encyclopedia was published at the end of the 19 th century and immediately became the national bestseller.

encyclopedia, general knowledge, organization of knowledge, popularization of values and ideas