Books and Non-Books

Before you get involved in the story about our exhibition Books and Non-Books, a word of caution – a vineyard will be donated to monks, a book will start to talk, images of many layers will fire up your imagination; in some cases, only fragments polished by time and events will be left, anonymous author will cut and fill pages in his/her own way, a reader will inscribe on the margin a stunning thesis – as a reference or a road sign allowing immediate return – […]. There will be numerous attempts to reflect on the image of the world but, despite that, it will remain fascinatingly incomprehensible.

The title of the exhibition – Books and Non-Books – is taken from the cover of a notebook-catalogue prepared by the Lithuanian artist in exile Žibuntas Mikšys, called Books and Non-Books: What Is Placed Where. What does this well-turned and playful phrase imply? You will see it in a short while.

After getting to know so much, perhaps you will easily guess that the main character of the story is time – the one connecting ideas and thoughts, zooming in, passing by, present or only anticipated, the one that is coming. Every book or non-book here is a benchmark enabling us to perceive the flow of time. A treasury of Vilnius University Library that has been collected over 450 years is inexhaustible, therefore you are welcome to enter and marvel.

A small book of 80 pages is an invaluable monument of the Lithuanian language. It contains a Latin dedication in verse to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, an appeal to the clergy, the first verse in Lithuanian language –  preface for readers, a primer for reading (alphabet adjusted for the phonetics of the Lithuanian language) and writing, a catechism and a hymnal with notes. In terms of variety of its content, the first Lithuanian book for teaching basic principles of writing and faith surpassed many first books published by other nations. 

The author and compiler was not indicated in the book. However, as early as the 16th century the book was considered to be the work of Martynas Mažvydas. Doubts were cleared up by the Polish linguist Jan Safarewicz, who in 1938 detected an acrostic in the Lithuanian preface of “Catechism” which recorded the name of Martynas Mažvydas. 

Between the 12th and the mid-19th centuries, paper was made in paper mills. The main raw material for the production was recycled fibre of hemp, linen or cotton extracted out of worn fabrics (rags). Every sheet of paper was made separately by sieving paper pulp out of aqueous mixture with a special sieve and later on by pressing, drying, spreading with glue and polishing it. During all this manual labour process, a paper maker would intentionally (by creating a watermark) or unintentionally (because of “defects” that would occur in the process) leave some marks that at present are an important resource for studying and researching the history of paper.

Languages that were spoken by ethnic groups who lived near Tatars would usually replace the Tatar mother tongue. Thus the necessity arose to translate religious texts into languages understood by the Lithuanian Tatars, which created a unique manuscript tradition – texts in Slavonic languages, but written in Arabic script. Kitabs contain texts explaining the Qur'an, descriptions of Muslim rituals and basic rites, quotations from the Qur'an, Oriental tales, religious legends, lectures for the youth, divinations and even explanations of dreams.
 

The legend narrates about prophet Muhammad’s journey to Paradise. The prophet visits seven levels of Heaven, descends into seven circles of Hell, meets face to face with God and talks to Him. The legend gives a description of inferno and sinners who suffer greatly in there, whereas different sorts of pleasures are waiting for believers in a splendid garden of Eden.
 
Associated professor Dr Galina Miškinienė is reading a fragment of the legend from the Kitab compiled in the 19th century by Abram Korycki and kept at VU Library.  

The “book of cuttings” contains engravings published at the beginning of the 18th century created by the Flemish artist Antonio Barbey at the confluence of the 17th and 18th centuries. In the original format, large portraits of the Polish rulers are lined next to each other, whereas in this book of “more suitable size” each one was given a separate page.
An inscription at the beginning of the book bears witness to one period of the history of this particular copy: 

The Lithuanian Statutes are a rare phenomenon in the European law; they are a unique monument of history, law, culture and writing attributed to several modern nations and states (Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Poland). In Europe of the time it was one of the most advanced legal codes; statutes of other states such as Prussia, Russia and others were compiled on the basis of the Lithuanian Statute. Seven copies of the First Lithuanian Statute have reached our days. Unfortunately, although all of them were transcribed some time ago in Vilnius, all are currently kept in other countries – Poland, Germany, with one copy in Russia (Saint Petersburg).

At present there aren’t any original copies of the First Statute (which came into force in 1529) kept in Lithuania; the only copy of the Second Statute (1566) is kept at Vilnius University Library. The library also holds a printed copy of the Third Statute (1588). 

The printed copy of the Third Lithuanian Statute has a long inscription of former owner, covering several pages:

Regarding main characters and locations. The inscription talks about the master of Serbian origin Michal (Mikhail) Miloradowicz (circa 1650–1726, born in Herzegovina) and his son Stefan Miloradowicz (circa 1700–1756). In 1711 Michal (Mikhail) Miloradowicz responded to the Russian Tsar Peter I’s appeal to Montenegrins and participated in battle with the Turks; for this he was generously rewarded with gold and possessions in the present Ukraine. By the Tsar’s assignment, in 1715 he was appointed a colonel of Hadiach (a town in Ukraine, Poltava Oblast) and he held this position until his death. He distinguished himself by passionate temper and taking of bribes.

A collection of court books of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is one of the most interesting resources in the historical collections of VU Library. It consists of nearly six hundred hand written registers and their fragments covering the period between 1540 and 1845. The texts are written in Chancery Slavonic, Polish, Latin and Russian languages in different courts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (16th–18th centuries) and the Russian Empire (19th century). The books recorded various disputes, starting with infringements of land tenure and ending with fraud, theft and even serious crimes. The collection provides a wide reflection of the history of Lithuanian political, social and economic life as well as a detailed picture of daily life in the past. Books of courts are an important source the history of languages, historical geography, and genealogy studies. 

Every court had a coffer for keeping books of court in which one could copy his or her documents without fear that the original of one or another legal act will be lost in a fire – copies included into books of court had the same legal force as the originals.
Sections of cases were bound to sewing supports made out of manuscript leftovers, leather or other material and fastened to a piece of vegetable-tanned leather of irregular shape which served as a book cover. One side of the cover would usually be left a little longer so that, if need be, some other documents that were issued later could be added to the book.  

While the content of the parchment itself is not related to Lithuania, some link to our country could be traced. The document came to Lithuania alongside with the old and illustrious Choiseul family that descended from France, Haute-Marne department, Choiseul region. One of the members of the family – Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier (1752–1817) – a French diplomat and archaeologist, a member of the French Academy of Science, who after the overthrow of the Bourbons fled to Saint Petersburg and gained favour of Empress Catherine II, while Tsar Paul I awarded him a title of privy councillor. In addition, Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier was appointed the director of the Academy of Art as well as the Imperial Library. The estate of Plateliai and its surroundings, donated by the Tsar to Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier, were managed by the family until the Second World War.

The earliest parchment kept at VU Library was donated in 1993 by Vladas Kulbokas. He received the document from a descendant of a servant who worked in the Choiseul estate. When the Choiseul family left Lithuania during the war, their possessions and a rich library were ravaged; however, their servant rescued this small parchment and donated it to his son. In a pocket of Vladas Kulbokas, the parchment travelled around half of the world until at last it came back to Lithuania and found its place in the Manuscripts Collection of VU Library.

After describing his notion on heliocentric system in a manuscript which he sent to his closest friends and colleagues, the distinguished astronomer resolved to give a permission to publish his book, in which for the first time in the then-scholarly publications it was stated that the Earth, like the other planets, revolves around the Sun. Copernicus’ book had such an immense impact on the world of science that some contemporary scientists tend to consider Nicolaus Copernicus “the father of modern science”. Although at present there are more than two hundred and fifty copies of the first edition of Nicolaus Copernicus’s book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in the world, the book is still highly desired among bibliophiles. A copy of Copernicus’ book kept at Vilnius University Library is bound together with De triangulis omnimodis (On Triangles of All Kinds), a book by Johannes Müller, an astronomer and mathematician of the 15th century.

The first edition of the book, which was translated into the Latin language as early as 1406, was printed in Vicenza (Italy) in 1475. At the time Ptolemy’s Cosmographia was published as a text, without any maps. Atlas with maps, eventually published in Bologna in 1477, caused a great sensation as prior to that creators of European maps tended to see the world in a totally different way – more significant cities and more advanced countries were depicted much bigger than they actually were. Based on mathematic calculations and strict proportions, Ptolemy’s maps – unprecedented in their appearance – shook the notion of the world of the Medieval cartographers. The incunabula kept at Vilnius University Library is the fifth edition of the atlas.