On April 17th, at 4 p.m., within the framework of the 10th International Bibliological Conference, at the gallery “Labyrinth” there takes place an opening ceremony of the exhibition dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the foundation of the Mamonichs’ printing house, one of the biggest publishing centers of the 16th – early 17th centuries.
The exposition “Printed in the Mamonich House” located in the Book Museum of the National Library of Belarus is prepared in cooperation with the Y.Kolas Central Scientific Library of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.
The Mamonich House was the biggest private printing-works which existed almost half a century. It became the second – after Francisk Skorina’s printing house – publishing centre opened in Vilno, the capital of the grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Mamonich brothers managed to obtain official acknowledgement and trice they gained royal privilege to publish religious, secular and law books. For the first time in the history of Belarusian book printing they started to publish codes of law (the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 1588) and legal editions.
Organizers of the exhibition present the fullest collection of early printed books published by the Mamonich House in the late 16th – early 17th centuries from the stocks of the National Library of Belarus and Y.Kolas Central Scientific Library which have never been shown before.
Among exhibits there is the first book published by the printing-house, a true masterpiece of the 16th century typography – the altar Gospel (1575) printed by Piotr Mstislavets. The second edition by the outstanding master – the Psalter (1576) most known as the Psalter With Red Dots is also on display.
The exhibition presents editions appeared at the beginning of the 1590s: Psalters with accesses (1591–1592 and 1594–1595) illuminated with the images of fabulous winged beings, and also the Apostle (1595), the Gospel without signatures (1600) and the Gospel with signatures (1600). Editions of the early 17th century – the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of 1588 translated into the Polish language (1619) and books of Tribunal (1616 and 1623) are presented as well.
The exhibition will run in the Book Museum from 17 April to 23 June, 2014.
For further information, please, call: (375 17) 293 25 85.
