Aspects of Censorship in “Albina românească”, 1829
Censorship has emerged even before receiving a name. Due to the fact that it was an attribute of the power, it was religious, political or military. It has emerged as early as the first writings, as shown by biblical texts. Within the European area the censorship was created by the Church. In Transylvania, which was under the Habsburg administration, written culture bore the imprint of the measures taken against the reform – forbidden texts, funds of controlled manuscripts. There is not a reference point in time to be related to the beginning of censsorship. Prohibition of writings has been identified with the history of culture and civilization. Its origins are linked to the religious life of each human community. As crystallization of the first state forms emerged, censorship became an attribute of religious institutions, as well as of secular ones.
I. Silvestru Caliani was noted as the first roman censor in Transylvania. In 1774 Caliani, known as “the first book censor”, signed the print approval for The Book of Akathists at Blaj. “Albina Românească” appeared under Gheorghe Asachi’s editorial guidance. It was the first Romanian newspaper in Moldavia. Alongside “Curierul Românesc”, drafted by I. Heliade Rădulescu in Bucharest, and “Gazeta de Transylvania”, G. Bariţiu, Braşov, “Albina Românească” laid the foundation of the Romanian periodicals. At the beginning, “Curierul românesc”, which firstly appeard in Bucharest on April the 8th, 1829, and “Albina românească”, Iaşi, June 1, 1829, were almost official gazettes, because they used to publish mostly political news taken from the inside and from abroad. But, later, they began to publish: little literary information, historical articles, short stories, poems, so that they managed to gather around the entire literary movement of the country.
Keywords: Old Book, periodicals, The Habsburg Empire, 1829, politics
