In the Danubian Principalities (1832–1849) and the Ottoman Empire (from 1857), the legislation mentions various sanctions endured by those who did not follow the rules on the circulation of the books (publishers, booksellers, readers). Towards the mid-nineteenth century, sanctions on the unlawful circulation of books coming from abroad or printed in their own countries have started to be enforced. This way, authorities wanted to reduce the influence that books could have on a new generation of young intellectuals willing to change the existing social and political foundations