This year marks 500 years since the establishment of the first printing house of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the printing of Francysk Skaryna’s Little Travel Book which was the first printed book in the country. While marking this occasion, Vilnius University Library will launch the Inspired by Skaryna: 500 Years of Vilnius Printings exhibition on 21 September at 5 p.m. in Franciszek Smuglewicz Hall. The exhibition will present the first printing houses of Vilnius and the books printed in them, thus showing the trajectory of Vilnius printing from Skaryna till the end of the 18th century.
The founding father of printing in Vilnius Francysk Skaryna (circa 1470–circa 1551), a son of the Polotsk merchant and a distinguished humanist, printed the prayer book called The Little Travel Book in 1522. Several years later, he was a publisher of the liturgical book called Apostle. Vilnius University Library keeps in its holdings a unique copy of Skaryna’s Apostle and many other books printed in the 16th and 18th centuries in Vilnius printing houses. Fifty-three artefacts were selected for the exhibition: 45 printed books and 8 manuscript documents that are associated with Vilnius printing houses.
The exhibition will be on display until 21st November in Franciszek Smuglewicz Hall of Vilnius University Library (Universiteto str. 3, I floor).
2022-09-14