On 31 August 1832, around 10 a.m. lieutenant colonel of police Aleksandr Volkov came with several other officers to the Franciscan Monastery in Valkininkai with the intention to close it. Franciscan friars and the superior of the monastery Antoni Niewiarowski (1769-1843) were allowed to take only their personal belongings and were told to leave all other things, including monastery library books. Among other things that were brought along from the closed monastery was a unique printing with a hymn dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loretto (Piesn o Nayswięt. Maryi Pannie Loretanskiey W Obraźie Olkinickim cudami słynącey W Kośćiele Franciszkańskim). Later Niewiarowski bound this printing into a large handwritten book, in which he collected material on the history of the Lithuanian Province of Franciscans Conventuals (F3-291). In effort to preserve the memory about the closure of the monastery, he wrote an inscription at the bottom of the printing: w R[ok]u 1832 Aug[usta] 6 s. s. / 18 n. s. Naywyźszym Rozkazem Naymiłosciwiey podpisano w Peterzburg[u] wydaleni franciszkanie Aug. 31 z Olkinik do Kowna – wyiechali 7bra 11 przy Komissyi (According to the highest order issued by his Majesty in St. Petersburg on 6/18 August 1832, on 31 August Franciscans were transferred from Valkininkai to Kaunas. They left on 11 September under the supervision of the Commission).
This unique one-page printing has no publishing data and it is assumed that it was printed in the Franciscan Printing House of Vilnius. Although small in volume, the printing is quite large in terms of size: 33,5×21 cm. The printing is decorated with an engraving created by the engraver Jan Piotrowski. Usually, engravings were the property of a publisher and they were used for different purposes. When an engraving is printed alone, the publisher makes a card; when printed with text, it can be treated as an illustration; and when the engraving is printed on a one-page printing with a hymn, as in this case, it might be that the publisher’s intention was to create an “advertisement” for a devotional picture.
Dr. Ina Kažuro, Rare Books Division
2021-04-23