2017 to mark 500th anniversary of Belarusian book printing

23 января 2017

By Elena Bormotova: The year 2017, declared the Year of Science in Belarus, will also mark the 500th anniversary of Belarusian book printing, a scientific, educational and spiritual breakthrough.

A book dedicated to the Belarusian enlightener Francysk Skaryna was released a few days ago. The project of the Standing Committee of the Union State of Belarus and Russia was initiated by the Russian side to fill gaps in the knowledge of Belarus’ history and culture. Francysk Skaryna: The Man of the World is a Russian-language popular science book aimed at a wide range of readers. Written by a young Belarusian researcher and Deputy Director of the National Library, the first edition of 1,000 copies has been sent to the research, library and educational institutions of Russia. An additional 2,000 copies will be released in a few days’ time.

About 520 copies of Skaryna’s 25 books have been preserved. 10 of them are kept in the National Library of Belarus as part of a collection purchased nearly 100 years ago.

The exact date marking the launch of book printing in Belarus is 6 August, 1517, when Skaryna’s first and most popular book Psalms was released. Two incomplete copies of the book have survived to this day, both kept in the State Historical Museum in Moscow and the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg. Negotiations are underway to exhibit the originals in Belarus this year.

Skaryna was half a century ahead of the Russian book printing pioneers Fedorov and Mstislavets, who were incidentally born in Belarus’ territory but had a printing house in Moscow. In addition to publishing books, Skaryna was the Secretary of the Danish King and the Prussian Duke’s doctor. He was also a poet and botanist.

The language in which the pioneer wrote his books was based on the Church Slavonic language with a large number of Belarusian words. Therefore, all his works were understood in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.