The question about the origin of the Russian press and "Kuranty" in domestic historiography of the XIX – beginning of XX century

The article analyzes the discussion in Russian historiography of the XIX – beginning of XX century about «Kuranty»: whether it was a newspaper or some extracts from foreign press. The factors influencing on the assessment of the first researchers are tracked. Based on the analysis of main works published in the specified period, the author concludes that unavailability of the source, the politicization of the issue, and the weak development of the theory of journalism and source studies influenced on the result of scientific researches. This made it impossible to interpret such difficult material as «Kuranty» correctly.