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PART A - ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
PART A: ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
Republic of Belarus
1.1 Name of documentary heritage:
Collection of manuscripts, incunabula, and rare and precious books of the National Library of Belarus
1.2 Country: Republic of Belarus
1.3 State, province or region: -
1.4 Address: 9 Chyrvonaarmeiskaia Street
220636 MINSK
1.5 Name of organization (if appropriate): National Library
of Belarus
2.1 Owner (name and contact details):
National Library
Tel/Fax: 227-54-63
e-mail: solnacbibl@minsk.by
2.2 Custodian (name and contact details):
Galina Oleinik, Director, Tel/Fax: 227-54-63
2.3 Legal status
(a) category of ownership: public
(b) details of legal and administrative provisions for the preservation of the documentary heritage:
In the Republic of Belarus, preservation of the documentary heritage is ensured by the following legislation:
(1) Law of 4 June 1991on culture in the Republic of Belarus.
(2) Law of 13 November 1992 concerning the protection of the historical cultural heritage.
(3) Republic of Belarus Customs Code of 3 February 1993.
(4) Law of 6 October 1994 concerning the national or other archives of the Republic of Belarus.
(5) Law of 22 March 1995 concerning library science.
(6) Statutes of the National Library of Belarus of 28 October 1994.
(c) accessibility
Readers may consult the heritage collection of the National Library of Belarus only in the reading room of the Library's Department of Manuscripts and Rare and Precious Books. Whenever possible, the most valuable manuscripts are replaced by facsimiles (for example, 'The Bible' by Francisk Skorina) or microfiche or microfilm copies. Access to works in poor physical condition is limited.
(d) copyright status
The Republic of Belarus Copyright Law entered into force in July 1996.
2.4 Responsible administration
The Department of Manuscripts and Rare and Precious Books, whose collection includes manuscripts and publications of great historical, scientific or cultural importance, is responsible for:
3.1 Description and inventory
The Library holds more than 7.3 million volumes, including a collection of 59,514 rare and ancient manuscripts and publications. The collection is constantly being supplemented by archive documents, manuscripts, printed material, periodicals and tracts, in Belarusian and other languages, meeting the acquisition policy criteria of the Library and the Department in particular.
3.2 Bibliographic/Registration details
Inventorying of the collection began in 1945. The system has been automated since 1993. All manuscripts and printed materials received by the Department are entered in a computerized scientific bibliography. The retrospective conversion of certain collections (ancient Belarusian books, publications in Cyrillic, eighteenth-century Russian civil print) is also being carried out. The Rare and Ancient Documents database is available to library users. The Library continues to update its traditional file-card catalogues and its records on provenance, autographs and bookbinding, etc.
3.3 Visual documentation, if appropriate: Planned.
3.4 History:
The Department's holding was initially composed of collections from the libraries of the former Jesuit College in Polotsk, the former gymnasiums of Slutsk, Minsk and Mogilev, the seminaries of Minsk and Vitebsk, and private collectors. When the State Library was established on 15 September 1922, the rare and ancient documents collection was part of the main holding. In 1961 the collection was transferred to separate premises known, as of July 1970, as the special division. In October 1979 this became the Department of Manuscripts and Rare and Precious Books.
3.5 Bibliography
1. Manuscripts from the libraries of the University of Moscow, Samara and the Minsk museum. Leningrad, 1934. 193 pp. (In Russian)
The catalogue contains information on the 111 manuscripts in old Slavic held by the State Library of Belarus before the Second World War. Unfortunately, only 78 of the manuscripts remain in the Department's collection.
2. A collective catalogue of incunabula preserved in USSR libraries. Moscow, 1982. 176 pp. (In Russian) Information about the incunabula collection of the National Library of Belarus.
3. Books of Belarus: a catalogue of Belarusian books from 1517 to 1917. Minsk, 1986. 615 pp. (In Belarusian)
3.6 Names, qualifications and contact details of independent people or organizations with expert knowledge about the values and provenance of the documentary heritage
The collection is administered in accordance with the following texts:
5. Assessment against the selection criteria
5.1 Assessment of the documentary heritage against the criteria in Annex 2
The National Library of Belarus would like its holdings of manuscripts
and rare and precious books to be listed as a single collection in the
Memory of the World Register. This collection reflects very important historic
events which, at the time, had an enormous impact on the history of society
and the individual (see criteria 1 and 2). Some of the documents are linked
to the names of eminent personalities who have made an exceptional contribution
to history and world culture. The collection of national publications provides
a vast panorama of the history and culture of the country
(see criterion 7).
5.2 Contextual assessment of the documents
The Department holds a total of 59,514 volumes. Noteworthy among them are:
The national collection of Belarusian books from the sixteenth to the twentieth century is of undoubted interest. It includes 140 books printed by Belarusian printers (Francisk Skorina, Piotr Mstislavets, the Mamonitchs brothers, Spiridone Sobol and others) and several hundred books in Latin and Polish, published in Belarus and reflecting the development and culture of the Belarusian nation.
The Department has a sizeable collection of Russian and Ukrainian books from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, rare books from later centuries, and major collections of precious books from other European countries (Germany, France, Italy, Poland) dating from the fifteenth to the twentieth century.
There are more than 1,000 manuscripts in all, half of which are books from the fourteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century in Slavic, eastern and western European languages, including a manuscript Tainaja tainych ili Aristotelevy vrata (sixteenth century, in old Belarusian) and Prologue. Sentiabrskaia polovina (end fifteenth - beginning sixteenth century) and others. There is a collection of eastern manuscripts (fourteenth to nineteenth century) composed of theological, historical, philosophical, scientific and literary works.
The western European works include theosophical and philosophical writings, manuals, legal documents and literary and historical works (journals of French soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars of 1800-1815).
5.3 Evaluation of authenticity
Ninety-six per cent of the Department's documentary holdings are originals; 4 per cent are on microforms or are facsimiles or re-editions.
5.4 Assessment of rarity (if appropriate)
The vast majority of the Department's holdings are books of varying
degrees of bibliographical rarity (see 5.2).
6.1 Details of consultation about the nomination with the:
(a) Owner
(b) Custodian: Curator of the collection
(c) Relevant regional or national Memory of the World Committee
7.1 Name: National Library of Belarus
7.2 Relationship to documentary heritage: Curator of the documentary heritage
7.3 Contact person: Galina Oleinik, Library Director
7.4 Contact details: Tel/Fax: 227-54-63
PART B - SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
Uncertain economic conditions prevent the National Library of Belarus from benefiting from full state financing, as provided for under the 'Law on culture'. It is difficult, therefore, to add to the collection and to carry out conservation measures.
At the present time, the rare book collections are stored in conditions that are not always compatible with an optimum conservation system. A lack of funds is blocking the reconstruction of a historic building in the centre of Minsk, which has been assigned by the city's municipality to the National Library for the creation of a Book Museum based on the resources of the Department of Rare and Precious Books.
The environment and conservation conditions (building, equipment) are such, nevertheless, that the collection is certainly being preserved in a satisfactory manner. Unfortunately, restoration and conservation of documentary holdings is not considered a priority. The necessary equipment and personnel is not available (to study, for example, the problem of the deoxydization of paper from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries).
Access to the collection holdings is governed by the Regulations of
the Department of Manuscripts and Rare and Precious Books and the Rules
for Readers. Ancient documents may only be read in the Department's reading
room. The most precious or worn documents are replaced by facsimiles, microfilm
or re-editions.
Present physical state:
The physical state of the rare and precious book collection is generally satisfactory, except for a few manuscripts which required complex restoration. The specially designed storerooms where the rare books are conserved provide relatively good conditions, including burglar and fire alarms. The premises are dusted regularly and disinfected as necessary.
History of preservation:
Rare books and manuscripts have formed a separate collection since the National Library was established in 1922. During the Second World War, nearly all the Library's entire holding (1,700,000 volumes out of the 2,000,000 pre-war collection), including rare books, was carried away by Hitler's troops. After the liberation of Belarus, part of the collection was located and returned to Minsk. The rare book collection was transferred to special premises in 1961 and the Department of Manuscripts and Rare and Precious Books was created in October 1979.
The basic guiding principles of the national policy for protecting the documentary heritage were laid down in 1989 and served as the basis for the 'Memory of Belarus' programme, a set of projects designed to:
There is at present great emphasis on back-up reproduction on microfilm and microfiches and the use of modern technology. In 1994 the National Library submitted to UNESCO a proposal entitled 'The documentary heritage of Belarus', the purpose of which is to create a CD-ROM on the most valuable documents in the Belarusian collection.
It is noteworthy that six Belarusian manuscripts and 20 printed documents (sixteenth century) from the National Library collection are included on the 'State List of Historical and Cultural Treasures'.
Person or organization responsible for preservation:
Galina Oleinik, Director, National Library of Belarus
Tatiana Rochtchina, Head, Department of Manuscripts and Rare and Precious Books
Valentina Licenkova, Curator of the collection