In February 2010, "Atlant Press" based in St.Petersburg will celebrate its 10th anniversary. In 2000, its first publication was the reference book "German edged weapons and brands" by the author who had submitted an already finished manuscript (presently, that author is our science editor). On the other hand, both the book and the author could well have been different; the matter was finding a publisher interested in the topic and having the money. That man was there in no time, ready to co-operate. D.A.Fedurin, a businessman and a collector, also from St.Petersburg, did not waste time hand-picking a team of professional weapon scholars willing to contribute and capable of outlining the basic principles of "Atlant Press" whose products are addressed to collectors, museum exerts, criminologists, antiquarians, and all those who have any interest towards military history and that of weaponry. Initially the prospectives had envisaged two book sequences, "The Weapon Academy" including monographs, reference sources, and catalogs, and "One Hundred Items From The Collection Of Russian Emperors", representing catalogs of weaponry kept in major museums of this country. However, the sales showed that the latter were more readily bought by experienced and knowledgeable people still constituting a tiny percentage of the market.
In January 2005, G.E.Vvedensky monograph "Five Centuries Of Russian Munitary Uniform" launched another sequence, "The Encyclopaedia of the Russian Military", which appeared to be a noticeable success.
The most recent years witnessed the entry of another generation of readers vividly interested in old weaponry and military history. However, a lot of older books have long been out of print; due to that the publishers decided to reprint those which had been in increased demand. Thus in June 2006, there appeared the 2nd edition of the "Dirks Of The World"; in April 2009, the revised edition of the "European Edged Weapons". Remembering the fact that the number of copies was relatively low, one could safely assume that these books would be sold out in no time.
All in all, since 2000 "Atlant Press" have published over 45 titles. The future projects listed in our site include research studies in weaponology (which has been and still remains our priority), but also monographs on uniforms, vexillology, phaleristic, military iconography. This signifies a noticeable widening of our scope and that of the circle of our authors who thus receive a chance to 1) demonstrate their professional skills, and 2) prove that certain specific historical fields are presently not solely proclaimed, but also successfully researched.
Tle team of our publishing house see their primary goal as promoting studies in weaponology and diverse fields of military history which must lead to a better cooperation and mutual understanding between professional weapon scholars and military historians. In order for the results of a research to become public, they must be presented to those who are willing to read about them. Writing, experts increase their reach, strengthen contacts with their colleagues and therefore prove their professional standing.
Backfeed is of an enormous inportance for any publishing house as well; it helps a better perception of the demand and even a more precise program. Readers' letters, as well as unofficial discussions with museum curators, weapon dealers and collectors, fans of military history provide valuable information in regard to the shapes future publications are to take. There always is someone with a non-standard idea about some problem or other... At times, these ideas can get accepted; others appear totally inappropriate. What is important, is that we have for quite some time remained convinced that criticizing is always easier than writing, and speaking easier than preparing a manuscript for print.
Despite the hard times we are living in, we have huge plans and face interesting challenges which demand, among everything else, close cooperation with diverse Russian museum. Till now, we have coped.
We are still ready to work hand-in-hand with all those who want to submit professional marketable studies helping to preserve and develop the best traditions of domestic military history. |
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