On February, 6th, at 12 p.m., there takes place a presentation of the facsimile edition of the Polotsk Gospel, the most valuable book monument of our country.
The presentation is to be held within the framework of the opening of XX Minsk international book fair “Books of Belarus-2013”, on the National stand of Belarus.
Created in Polotsk in the 12th century, the hand-written Gospel is one of the most ancient monuments of national book culture. It was created practically at the same time that the well-known Cross of Euphrosyne of Polotsk appeared and, quite probably, with the participation of the celebrated Belarusian princess who, as is known, founded in Polotsk a scriptorium for copying manuscripts. The Polotsk Gospel is written in the beautiful chart on 172 sheets of parchment, decorated with artistic headpieces, ornamental initials and headings; it has marks and records of known statesmen of the Polotsk Princedom of the 13th–14th centuries. Today it is divided and kept in different library collections of Russia.
The release of the facsimile edition is a result of a long-term teamwork of the National Library of Belarus, the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the publishing house of the Belarusian Exarchate, and also two largest libraries of the Russian Federation: the Russian State Library in Moscow and the Russian National Library in St.-Petersburg.
