Negotiating Print under Ottoman Rule: Dragan Tsankov’s 1854 Request to Establish a Printing House in Svishtov

Bulgarian Historical Review, 53 (2025), No. 4, pp. 94-120
DOI: https://doi.org/10.71069/BHR4.25.GA04

Gabriela Angelova

Assist. Prof. Gabriela Angelova, Ph.D. - University of Library Studies and Information Technologies, Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd. 119, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria; National Library St. st. Cyril and Methodius, Oriental Collections Department, Vasil Levski 88, 1504 Sofia, Bulgaria, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2803-9172, E-mail: g.angelova@unibit.bg

Abstract: The historiography of Bulgaria in the 19th century contains numerous statements concerning the early attempts to establish a printing house on Bulgarian territory following the emergence of liberalisation and reform movements during the Tanzimat period. The historical knowledge on the topic is mainly based on memoir sources, which subjectively reflect the course of events in the context of the actual Revival movement. There is a lack of sources that provide de facto evidence of the administrative procedures undertaken by Bulgarian Revival circles to establish the urgently needed printing house through official communication with the Ottoman authorities. This article presents the transcribed and translated content of Dragan Tsankov’s submission for a printing press permission. The Ottoman Turkish document is preserved in the Ottoman Archives of the Directorate of State Archives in Istanbul. The study provides an outline of the endeavours between Dragan Tsankov and the Sublime Porte to establish a Bulgarian printing press in Svishtov in 1854, along with the circumstances that led to his failure and ideological transformation.

Keywords:Bulgarian book printing; Bulgarian Revival; Arzuhal; Dragan Tsankov; Catholic Union.

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