On the New Year eve, a set of calendars which represent the rich and multiple book heritage of Belarus has been issued.
The basic idea of the publication is: “Going to the future, we do remember about the past”.
The recently published calendars are the result of cooperation between the National Library of Belarus and Belinvestbank. The set includes a big wall calendar, a smaller quarter calendar, desk calendars and two types of small pocket calendars.
For the convenience of readers, the contents are classified in four subject sections (according to the quarters of the year). The first section reflects the heritage of East Slavonic first printers Francisk Sakryna, Ivan Fyodirov and Piotr Mstislavets whose activity associates with Belarus. The second section presents old Belarusian scientific and educational editions – one of the first Belarusian primers, a manual of botany, and the first fundamental edition about the history of Belarus. The third quarter section contains the images of the basic legal documents which provided legal regulation of our ancestors’ life, – the Statute and the Tribunal of the Great Duchy of Lithuania, and also the Constitution of the Sejm Wanly of Rzecz Pospolita. Finally, the fourth section presents our country as a tolerant, multiconfessional state where representatives of many peoples and religions coexisted peacefully. The last three editions – the Orthodox, the Catholic and the Uniate – include the works by celebrated Old Belarusian engravers Vasil Vaschanka and Aleksandr and Leonty Tarasevich whose names went down in the history of Belarusian art.
The old Belarusian book reflects our ancestors’ ideas, views and hopes. The calendar contents witness that our compatriots who lived centuries ago were concerned with the issues of education, scientific research and promotion of our country on the world stage. On the other hand, the old book is the evidence of the fact that Belarus in the XVI–XVIII centuries had one of the best legal systems in the world, and that our country was notable for toleration, very untypical for that time.
It is expected that this event will become the beginning for a long-term and fruitful cooperation between Belarusian cultural and banking institutions for preservation and promotion of national cultural heritage.
