Press releases

MINSK, 19 April (BelTA) – The exposition "The Great Statute of the Grand Duchy" dedicated to the 425th anniversary since the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was adopted in 1588 opened at the National Library of Belarus on 18 April.

The exposition is very important for the cultural life of Belarus, Director of the National Library Roman Motulsky said at the opening ceremony. "In every epoch we look at an event and make a subjective point of view. Collection of the historical documents allows for an objective assessment of an event,” he said.

The exposition features the editions of the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the collections of the National Library and the Mogilev History Museum. The main exhibit is the Statute of 1588 in the Old Belarusian language. It was printed in Vilna, in 1594-1595. This is the only copy in Belarus and has been loaned by the Mogilev History Museum for display in Minsk. The 1588 edition in the old Belarusian language was bought back from a private collector in Moscow for $45,000. There are only about 30 copies of this edition in the world, in Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and United Kingdom.

"It is highly unlikely we will be able to acquire another original Statute in the foreseeable future, much less to collect them all in one place. But we are not aiming for that. The main thing is that we can arrange such exhibitions and give access to these documents to everyone who would like to get familiar with them,” said Roman Motulsky.

The Statute of 1588 was valid for almost 250 years. It was compiled by such prominent statesmen as Chancellor Astafy Volovich and Court Chancellor Lew Sapieha. The Statute was published in the printing house which was founded in Vilna by Piotr Mstislavets on the money of Mogilev merchants Mamonichis. The original Statute represents the highest achievement of the ancient Belarusian legal thought which had an impact on the cultural, historical and legal traditions of Europe. The Statute is not just a document but the symbol and the specimen of the utmost cultural importance.

The exposition "The Great Statute of the Grand Duchy" is held as part of the 9th international bibliological conference “The Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the history of culture of Belarus” which opened on 18 April as well. Attending the event were scientists from Belarus, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and Poland. The conference participants got familiar with the new research on history and culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, history of book specimens and collections, preservation and popularization of book heritage.

The exhibition "The Great Statute of the Grand Duchy" will stay open until 15 May 2013.