500 Years of Belarusian Book Printing

MINSK, 6 December (BelTA) - The Book Heritage of Francysk Skaryna was presented in the Royal Library of Belgium which hosted the event to mark the 500th anniversary of the Belarusian book printing on 5 December, BelTA learned from the National Library of Belarus.

Director of Belarus’ National Library Roman Motulsky made the presentation and donated the facsimile edition to the Royal Library of Belgium. He told the guests of the ceremony about the international publishing project implemented by Belarus’ National Library and Bank BelVEB which took five years.

The facsimile collection includes digital copies of the books printed by famous humanist Francysk Skaryna in Prague and Vilna. In the year marking the 500th anniversary of Belarusian book printing, the multi-volume publication introduces the world’s community to a valuable stratum of the Belarusian history and shows Belarus as a country with rich and distinctive cultural traditions.

Director General of the Royal Library of Belgium Sarah Lammens expressed appreciation for such a meaningful gift and assured the Belarusian side of its preservation and promotion. She also expressed hope for further cooperation.

The event was attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Kingdom of Belgium Alexander Mikhnevich, First Secretary of the Embassy Kirill Grushevsky, representatives of the Royal Library of Belgium, scholars, writers and publishers of the two countries.

The meeting ended with an sightseeing around the Royal Library of Belgium. The heads of the libraries exchanged views on promising areas of cooperation and shared their experience in the field of librarianship. The guests got acquainted with the premises, exhibitions, the repository and rare publications of the library.