War of 1812 in book monuments

A set of manuscripts written in French language and devoted to the events of the Napoleonic wars is kept in the stocks of the National Library of Belarus. Authors of these documents are direct participants of those events that makes manuscripts a valuable historical source.

Many documents came to us from West-European private book collections after the World War II that is reflected in ownership records in their pages. They are represented mostly by memoirs, battle journals, letters of soldiers to their natives in France and even poetic works. Some documents describing military events that happened directly in our land are especially interesting for researchers studying Belarusian history.

The exhibition also presents books from a valuable collection of I.H. Kolodeev which was appreciated by his contemporaries as one of the biggest in Europe collection of book on the war 1812.

Rare editions timed to the 100th anniversary of the war of 1812 are also on display.

When creating this exhibition, scientific papers and consultations of historian A.N. Steburako were used.

Contact phone number: (375 017) 293 25 85.

The National Library of Belarus offers a thematic virtual project"1812 in the history of Belarus". It provides remote access to digital copies of books, monographs, scientific collections and articles dedicated to the crucial historical event, I.H. Kolodeev’s book collection from the stocks of the National Library of Belarus, and also a virtual gallery.

The exhibition runs from 27 November to 31 December 2012.