On December 12, Mogilev Regional Library hosted a presentation of the unique facsimile of the first Belarusian Primer (Bukvar), which was published in 1618.
Year 2018 was not chosen at random for the release of the Primer’s facsimile reprint. The world’s first book with that name was published in 1618 by a Brotherly printing house, Vilna Holy Spirit Orthodox Brotherhood, the town of Evye near Vilnius (today Vievis in Lithuania).
The deputy director of the National Library, Alexander Susha, presenting the 400-year-old Primer, told in detail about the historical conditions for the appearance of the Primer in our land and the circumstances of its reissue in our time. At the event’s end, he donated the facsimile copies to Mogilev Regional Library, public libraries, educational institutions and museums of the Mogilev region, Bobruisk and Mogilev Eparchy of the Belarusian Orthodox Church.
Only two copies of the Primer have survived to the present time. One of them is kept in the Royal Library of Denmark, and the second is the property of the Library of the Honorable Society of Middle Temple in the UK. After research and negotiations with the board of the British Library, permission was granted for the publication of facsimile version.
The facsimile of the world's first Primer was released in partnership with the Honorable Society of the Middle Temple in London, the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Ministry of Culture of Belarus, the International Association of Belarusian Scholars, Belarusian State University, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as the Belarusian Bank for Development and Reconstruction "Belinvestbank".
All materials are provided by the Public Relations Department.
