On April 29, a grand opening of the exhibition "French superexlibris of the 17th – 18th centuries" took place in the Book Museum.
Unique and valuable examples of French bookbinding of the 17th – 18th centuries. with heraldic superexlibrises became the main exhibits of the exhibition.
Deputy Director General of the National Library of Belarus, Alexander Susha, addressed the audience with a welcoming speech. He noted that the library collections are extremely rich and preserve a wide range of book monuments from different centuries. Among them are valuable old printed books from private French libraries. Books from the collections of the French aristocracy have distinctive and refined bindings that are a shining example of the culture of the era.
In his speech, Anatoly Steburako, historian and teacher of the Republican Institute of Higher Education, Candidate of Historical Sciences, spoke about various types of bookmarks. He emphasized that the elite position among them is undoubtedly occupied by super-ex-libris (from Latin super - on top and ex-libris - from books) - emblems or monograms embossed in gold on the binding. They become the object of study not only of bibliology, but also attracts lovers of heraldry, phaleristics, paleography, and genealogy. The speaker noted that super-exlibrises are an excellent informative historical source of knowledge about the intellectual life of France.
The next speaker, bibliophile and collector of engravings and bookplates, Oleg Sudlenkov, spoke about the importance and value of superexlibrises for book collections. He emphasized that the exhibition allows one to get closer to the masterpieces of book binding art and will arouse the interest of both bibliophiles and a wide range of visitors.
Svetlana Pakhomenkova, Chief Bibliographer of the Research Department of Bibliology of the National Library of Belarus, conducted an author's tour of the exhibition for guests and participants of the event.
The exhibition also presents the result of the publishing project “Stamps Set. French Superexlibrys XVII – XVIII Art”, prepared in 2020 by the research and publishing departments of the National Library of Belarus. All interested persons have the opportunity to purchase a set of postcards at the library shop.
Exhibition "French superexlibris of the 17th – 18th centuries" will work at the Book Museum (room 347) until August 31, 2021.
The and date is subject to change.
The opening hours of the exhibition correspond to the opening hours of the book museum.
Entrance with a library card or a ticket for a socio-cultural center.
Bibliology Research Department
