The connection between the emergence of book publishing in Kazakhstan and the peculiarities of the development of society and the influence of the book as a source of knowledge on the development of civilization is shown. The history of the Kazakh book is considered from the first written monuments discovered by scientists on the territory of Kazakhstan to the pre-revolutionary handwritten and printed Kazakh book. The first monuments of Kazakh writing are ancient Turkic runic letters, which date back to the VIIth-9=IXth centuries AD. The article talks about the importance of the printing house of Kazan University and the Orenburg Russian military printing house for the development of Kazakh book printing. About the beginning of national book publishing directly on the territory of Kazakhstan in the cities of Almaty (at that time Verny), Uralsk and Semipalatinsk. The role of Kazakh democratic educators in the history of the development of the Kazakh book from the 1830s to the beginning of the 20th century is noted.
Written monuments, folklore, handwritten Kazakh book, book publishing, printing house, Kazakh democratic educators, book repertoire.