National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

19.10.2016

Fundamental two-volume edition of "Polotsk charters of XIII - beginning of XVI century" to be presented at NASB Yakub Kolas Central Scientific Library

On October 21, 2016 (Friday) at 14.30 the fundamental two-volume edition of "Polotsk charters of XIII – the beginning of XVI century" will be presented in the Yakub Kolas Central Scientific Library of the NAS of Belarus (Minsk, Surganova str., 15, information and exhibition center of the Yakub Kolas Central Scientific Library of the NAS of Belarus, 1st floor, room 110). This publication was prepared jointly by Russian and Belarusian scientists, representatives of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Russian History, the Yakub Kolas Central Scientific Library of the NAS of Belarus, the Institute of History of the NAS of Belarus, the Faculty of History of Belarusian State University, Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. The group that worked on the project included: Anna Horoshkevich, Sergei Polekhov, Vasily Voronin, Alexander Grusha, Ales Zhlutka, Ekaterina Skvairs, Andrei Tyulpin.

The publication is a collection of documents (the total number is about 500), including charters of Lithuanian Grand Dukes on land grants to inhabitants of Polotsk and Polotsk land, agreements and correspondence of the princes with Riga authorities for affairs of Polotsk residents, correspondence between residents of Polotsk and Riga, and others. The documents reflect the complex and multilateral cooperation of various ethnic groups – the Rusyns, Latvians, Lithuanians, Germans, their cultures, a variety of official, business and personal contacts of their representatives. The publication was prepared in accordance with modern scientific requirements, and will be useful not only for historians but also to linguists of various specialties. The publication contains an extensive illustrative material.

The opening of the exhibition «А Полтескъ теж есть, хвалячи Бога, место словутное...» will be held in the framework of the presentation. The exposition will present the documents of the XVII – the beginning of XX centuries, as well as the works of historians of the XIX – the beginning of XX centuries and the achievements of modern Belarusian and foreign historiography. Among the exposed books are the studies of S.I. Pleshcheyev ("Review of the Russian Empire in its current new-established status" («Обозрение Российской империи в нынешнем ее новоустроенном состоянии»), 1790), I.I. Lappo ("Polotsk audit in 1552" («Полоцкая ревизия 1552»), 1905), M.K. Lyubavski ("Essay on the history of Lithuanian-Russian state up to the Union of Lublin, inclusive. With annex of the text of charters issued to the Duchy of Lithuania and its regions" («Очерк истории Литовско-Русского государства до Люблинской унии включительно. С приложением текста хартий, выданных княжеству Литовскому и его областям», 1915), and a number of books autographed by the researcher of Polotsk land A.P. Sapunov and others.

In addition, some volumes from the unique scientific series "Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy", which included research on the history of written language and book culture of medieval Europe, will be presented.

A separate section will be devoted to the books published in the printing house of Polotsk Jesuit College: dictionaries, textbooks, calendars, the works of Horace, Cicero. Among the publications is the book from the collection of the Library of Nesvizh ordination – Grammar of the Latin language by Manuel Alvarez (1526-1582) with ex-libris of Jerzy Radziwill ("Emmanuelis Alvari… de Institutione grammatical linguae Latinae...", 1794).

Besides, it will be widely presented unique manuscripts of the XVII–XVIII centuries from manuscript collection "Collection" («Коллекция»): commercial, land and court documents related to Polotsk and Polotsk land.

The presentation will be attended by scientists of the NAS of Belarus, representatives of the universities of Minsk, the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in the Republic of Belarus.