On October 29, in the framework of celebrating the 400th anniversary of the first Belarusian "Primer" ("Bukvar"), the Director of the National Library of Belarus Roman Motulsky visited the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, where he made a presentation and donated a facsimile reproduction of the "Primer".
As it is known, one of the original books that exist until today is located in the Middle Temple Library.
During the event, Roman Motulsky told about the publishing project, the history of the "Primer" and its significance for the Belarusian people, and met with the Director of the Middle Temple Library, Renae Satterley. The leaders discussed prospects for cooperation in the field of library science and joint research projects.
The event was attended by slavicists, library employees, representatives of the diplomatic corps and the Belarusian diaspora, experts, representatives of the British Library, to whom the director of the National Library of Belarus donated a collection of Belarusian books in the framework of the Belarus Today project.
Roman Motulsky gave a lecture about the National Library of Belarus, the book culture of our country and the importance of preserving cultural values for students, historians and linguists of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies of University College London (SSEES). Roman Motulsky also presented the publishing projects of the National Library of Belarus on the facsimile reproduction of valuable book monuments of Belarus.
At the end of the event, Roman Motulsky handed the Primer and the Book Heritage of Francysk Skaryna to the School of Slavonic and East European Studies representatives, as well as books from the collection of the National Library of Belarus devoted to Belarusian culture, language and literature.
After that Roman Motulsky took part in a tour around the SSEES and met with the Director of the SSEES Diane Koenker took place, during which the leaders exchanged views on promising areas of cooperation, shared their experience in the field of librarianship, and also got acquainted with the halls, exhibitions, book storage and rare editions of the library.
The visit was organized due to the organizational support of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Library of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple in London, the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus, the International Association of Belarusians, the Belarusian State University, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus, the European Bank for reconstruction and development, as well as the Belarusian Bank Development and Reconstruction "Belinvestbank", joined the forces for successful implementation of the facsimile reproduction of the world's first "Primer".
Tomorrow, on October 30, Roman Motulsky will visit the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, meet with its president, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, and hand him the first Belarusian "Primer", the facsimile edition of which was possible due to the financial support of the bank.
