Summary
The paper analyzes literary ads in the weekly Montenegrin newspaper The Voice of a Montenegrin, in the period between November 20th 1876 and October 1st 1877. In this period, its editor was Stevo Čuturilo, a prominent and engaged intellectual of the wider Serbian-speaking area. The Voice of a Montenegrin was the only official Montenegrin newspaper and an excellent indicator of the current local, national and regional events in the time in which it was published. It was defined by publishing political texts and literary articles and ads. The newspaper insisted on literature, although it was not quite consistent in it, especially in the period of intensified war, from 1876 to 1878. Under the editorship of Stevo Čuturilo, a total of 67 issues was published. They contained 42 literary ads. Literary ads were published within the columns named Literature and Art and Literature, on the last page of the paper. The columns were conditioned by the quantity of published literary material in a certain period. Some ads contained the announcements of one or two different literary publications, so the number of examined issues of The Voice of a Montenegrin is not identical to the number of advertised literary publications. In this work, we use the term ‘literary publication’ for all publications advertised in the two aforementioned columns. We found four calendar ads, two literary newspapers, fourteen books on various topics, belonging to different genres. Literary ads reflect the production of primarily Serbian, but also of foreign booksellers and publishers, communication between them and readers, types of published literary editions and their distribution methods. Analysis of literature ads enables monitoring the growth and development of Serbian books in a given period, development of bookselling and publishing, and improving the means of dissemination of literary publications among readers. The literary receptivity of the newspaper editor influenced directly the progression of literary ads. Therefore the editor’s integrity was very important and often his name was what attracted readers to a certain recommended calendar, illustrated periodical or a book.

Keywords:
literary ads, The Voice of a Montenegrin, Stevo Čuturilo, calendars, literary newspapers, booksellers, publishers, The Jovanović Brothers’ Bookstore, readers, subscribers

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