Mokslas skaitymo rašto lietuviško

Mokslas skaitymo rašto lietuviško (Old Lithuanian: Moksłas skaityma raszta lietuwiszka; English: The Science of Reading the Lithuanian Writing) is the first Catholic primer of the Lithuanian language.[1][2][3]

Mokslas skaitymo rašto lietuviško

Title page of the 1783 edition primer
Author	Unknown
Country	Lithuania
Language	Lithuanian
Subject	Primer
Genre	Lithuanian language educational book
Published	1759–1864
Publisher	Vilnius University Press, Józef Zawadzki Press

The first Lithuanian primer Mokslas skaitymo rašto lenkiško (Old Lithuanian: Moksłas skaytima raszto lękiszko; English: The Science of Reading the Polish Writing) was published in 1759–1761, however later it was published with a name Mokslas skaitymo rašto lietuviško (Old Lithuanian: Moksłas skaityma raszta lietuwiszka; English: The Science of Reading the Lithuanian Writing).[1][2] In 1776–1790, about 1,000 copies of the primer were issued annually, in total – over 15,000 copies.[1][2] This primer was published until 1864 and was the most important factor in educating the mass audience of readers of the Lithuanian literature.[1][2]

According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897, 53.5% of Lithuanians (10 years and older) were literate in the ethnic Lithuania, while the average of the Russian Empire was only 27.7% (in the European part of Russia the average was 30%, in Poland – 40.7%).[2] This was at the height of the Lithuanian press ban.[2] Thus, the mass teaching of Lithuanian writing introduced for 100 years gave an irreversible result: the tradition of literacy was so ingrained in the Lithuanian nation that even the ban on the Lithuanian press (1864–1904) could no longer destroy the tradition of teaching writing to children.[2] The spread of Lithuanian literacy, which began in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, laid the foundations for the Lithuanian National Revival in the 19th century and eventually the restoration of statehood in 1918.[2]