On October 28, within the framework of the events dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the first Belarusian “Primer” (1618), the director of the National Library of Belarus, Roman Motulsky, visited Francysk Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum in London.
The director presented and donated to the library a facsimile reproduction of the world’s first book called “Primer” (“Bukvar”). He told about the history of “Primer” and its significance for the Belarusians: “The book was published in 1618 in the printing house of Vilna Holy Spirit Orthodox Fraternity in the town of Evye. This is one of the oldest Belarusian publishing houses, which printed books in Church Slavonic, Old Belarusian and Polish. Today we have something to be proud of. The name “Bukvar”, which our ancestors invented, was included into the modern Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Bosnian and other languages. ”
It is known that only two originals of Evye “Primer” have survived to our days. One of them, incomplete, is kept in the Royal Library in Denmark. The second complete copy is kept in the Library of the Honorable Society Middle Temple in London (UK). The presentation of the facsimile edition of the "Primer" will be held there tomorrow, on October 29th.
During the visit, Roman Motulsky met with representatives of the library council of Francysk Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum and discussed the prospects for cooperation in the field of library science, joint research projects and studies.
The event was attended by Slavic historians, library staff, representatives of the diplomatic corps and the Belarusian Diaspora.
The visit is supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The facsimile reproduction of the world’s first “Primer” was made by the Library of the Honorable Society 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 the Belarusians, 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 for Development and Reconstruction "Belinvestbank", which joining forces for successful project implementation.
