{"id":3731,"date":"2021-10-25T16:54:04","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T13:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/blog\/2021\/10\/25\/museum-of-the-belarusian-book-printing\/"},"modified":"2021-11-10T03:16:10","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T00:16:10","slug":"museum-of-the-belarusian-book-printing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/blog\/2021\/10\/25\/museum-of-the-belarusian-book-printing\/","title":{"rendered":"Museum of the Belarusian Book-Printing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Location:<\/strong><\/span> The Museum is located on the bank of the river Western Dzvina at Nizhne-Pakrouskaya Str. 22, near the Epiphany Cathedral.<\/h6>\r\n

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The Museum of the Belarusian Book-Printing was opened in 1990, on the oldest street of Polatsk (according to written sources), where Francysk Skaryna himself used to walk. The emergence of the museum took a great deal of work. At first, in 1981, the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR developed a comprehensive program named \u201cFrancysk Skaryna \u2013 great Belarusian enlightener and humanist, an outstanding figure in the Slavic culture.\u201d The BSSR Government approved of the programme, which was intended at preparing for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Skaryna.<\/p>\r\n

The official decision to establish the Museum of the Belarusian Book-Printing in Polatsk was made by the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR in 1987. The scientific concept of the exposition was developed by a group of employees of the Polatsk Historical and Cultural Reserve under the leadership of Halina Ladzisava, while the painters Syargey Dzmitryew and Igar Kurzhalaw worked on its artistic solution. The grand opening of the museum took place on the 8th<\/sup> of September 1990, with the participation of the alleged descendant of the Belarusian printing pioneer, Stanley Skaryna, who arrived at \u00a0the event from Canada.<\/p>\r\n

An architectural monument of the late 18th century was chosen to host the exposition \u2013 the former cell building of the Epiphany Orthodox Monastery, probably, designed by the Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi. In 1986, an architectural and archaeological study of the monument began under the direction of Henadz\u2019 Sahanovich, Candidate of Historical Sciences.<\/p>\r\n

The only book-printing museum in Belarus and one of the few museums of such kind in the entire post-Soviet space is devoted not only to the creation of a printed book, but also to the entire history of the Belarusian book in the context of the world development of writing and book traditions. The museum collects and preserves written artifacts (not only handwritten and early printed, but also modern editions), thus, continuing the traditions of famous Polatsk enlighteners. It is not surprising that the exposition of the museum begins with their portraits, among which there is a depiction of Francysk Skaryna by the Belarusian artist Leanid Khobataw.<\/p>\r\n

In total, the exposition occupies 15 halls: on an area of almost 700 square metres, there are almost 1,500 exhibits aimed to inspire pride in the Belarusian book and its creators. Moreover, the history of the Belarusian printed book began with the son of \u201cthe glorious city of Polatsk\u201d \u2013 Francysk Skaryna, to whom a separate hall of the museum is dedicated. The museum itself is presented as a comprehensive Skaryna study \u2013 a collection of research and works of art, which embodies the image of the first printer.<\/p>\r\n

The museum has been open for 30 years, and during this time, the staff has collected a rich collection of publications from different times. The visitors are impressed by old printed and manuscript books, such as “General Minea” (Bel. \u201c\u041c\u0456\u043d\u0435\u044f \u0430\u0433\u0443\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0430\u044f\u201d) (1628), “Flanders conquered” (Bel. \u201c\u0424\u043b\u0430\u043d\u0434\u0440\u044b\u044f \u0441\u043a\u043e\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0430\u044f\u201d) (Amsterdam = Cologne, 1644), “The Eye of the Church” (Bel. \u201c\u0423\u0441\u0442\u0430\u045e (\u0412\u043e\u043a\u0430 \u0446\u0430\u0440\u043a\u043e\u045e\u043d\u0430\u0435)\u201d), (Moscow, 1641), “Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania” (Vilnius, 1693), “Annual Roman Ceremonial” (\u201c\u0413\u0430\u0434\u0430\u0432\u044b \u0440\u044b\u043c\u0441\u043a\u0456 \u0446\u044b\u0440\u044b\u043c\u0430\u043d\u0456\u044f\u043b\u201d) (Polatsk, 1717), L. Zizaniy \u201cCatechism\u201d (Hrodna, 1788), etc., as well as the manuscript on parchment \u2013 \u201cTorah\u201d dating from the late 18th to early 19th century. The most valuable exhibits are also included in the State List of Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Belarus: \u201c\u0421hants\u201d (Bel. \u201c\u0420\u0430\u0441\u043f\u0435\u0432\u044b\u201d) (1789); “The Teaching Gospel” (Bel. \u201c\u0415\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0433\u0435\u043b\u043b\u0435 \u0432\u0443\u0447\u044b\u0446\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0430\u0435\u201c) (Vilnius: Mamonich printing house, 1595); J. Faletti \u201c12 speeches\u201d (Bel. \u201c12 \u043f\u0440\u0430\u043c\u043e\u045e \u201c) (Venice: Aldine Publishing House, 1558). It is believed that Francysk Skaryna learned the art of printing books from Aldus Manutius in Venice.<\/p>\r\n

The reconstructed interior of the printing house of the 16th\u201317th centuries with the figures of a typesetter and a printer will help to feel the atmosphere, imagine the process of creating early printed books.<\/p>\r\n

Every year, the Ministry of Information of the Republic of Belarus donates a collection of books -winners of the National Contest \u201cThe Art of the Book\u201d to the museum. Regularly, the latest collection of books, including the latest editions dedicated to Francysk Skaryna, replaces the previous one in the museum’s permanent exhibition.<\/p>\r\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_masonry_media_grid element_width=”12″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1636503350358-ba9a7d55-4934-5″ include=”2505,2532″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text] Location: The Museum is located on the bank of the river Western Dzvina at Nizhne-Pakrouskaya Str. 22, near the Epiphany Cathedral. [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text] [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#c17126″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1635164806645{padding-top: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text] The Museum of the Belarusian Book-Printing was opened in 1990, on the oldest street of Polatsk (according to written sources), where Francysk Skaryna…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3731"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3731"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3778,"href":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3731\/revisions\/3778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skaryna.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}