British Library Slavonic and East European Collections
The British Library Slavonic and East European Section acquires
material across the spectrum of the humanities and social sciences.
It is responsible for obtaining and making available material
published in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and
for material in the languages of those countries published anywhere
in the world.
This page provides an overview of the Belarusian Collections,
illustrated by specific examples.
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Copyright © 1997, The British
Library Board
Portrait of Skaryna from the 1518 Prague Bible
(Books of Samuel and Kings) [C.36.f.4].
Skaryna was the first Belarusian printer
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Contents
An overview of the Belarusian
Collections | Catalogues, printed guides
and other resources | Belarusian material
elsewhere in the British Library | Further
information
Collections
In the following text, codes which appear in brackets after references
([C.51.b.5]) indicate British Library shelfmarks.
The exact size of the Belarusian holdings is not known, since,
like other country/language holdings, they have no separate catalogue
and are dispersed within the rest of the collections. There are
approximately 2,100 titles in Belarusian acquired since 1975. However,
as most books published in Belarus after 1975 are
in Russian, the total number is much higher, probably at around
4,000. The collection is growing on average by about 300-400 titles
annually.
Among the British Library's holdings of 16th- and 17th-century
Slavonic books, there are 13 Belarusian items. These include Frantsisk
Skorina's (Fran'tsishak Skaryna) Books of Samuel and Kings
from his 1518 Prague Bible [C.36.f.4], Psalter
from 1522 [C.51.b.5] and Liturgical Acts and
Epistles (Apostol) from 1525 [C.51.b.6]. The
Library also holds an copy of the Apostol (1564) [C.104.k.11]
printed by Petr Timofeev Mstislavets and Ivan Fedorov, intended
not for private worship, but for ceremonial use in church services.
There are other rare books from Kutein, Monastery of the Epiphany,
such as a 1650 Psalter [C.185.a.46] and
a 1653 Slavonic dictionary [628.d.2].
A large proportion of the publishing output of the 18th, 19th and
(early) 20th centuries relating to Belarus is in Russian or, to
a lesser extent, in Polish, as, due to the particular historical
circumstances of that period, very few books were published in Belarusian.
Among these sources are: Akty, otnosiashchiesia k istorii Zapadnoi
Rossii, sobrannye i izdannye Arkheograficheskoiu Kommissieiu,
vols 1-5 (Sankt Peterburg, 1846-53) [Ac.5581/4];
Akty, otnosiashchiesia k istorii IUzhnoi i Zapadnoi Rossii
(Sankt Peterburg, 1863-92) [Ac.5581/11]; Sobranie
drevnikh gramot i aktov gorodov Minskoi gubernii, pravoslavnykh
monastyrei, tserkvei i po raznym predmetam (Minsk, 1848) [10292.l.29];
and Sobranie drevnikh gramot i aktov gorodov: Vilny, Kovna,
Trok, pravoslavnykh monastyrei, tserkvei i po raznym predmetam
(Wilno, 1843) [1602/277].
The British Library holds first editions of fundamental works for
the study of the Belarusian language and culture, such as Slovar'
bielorusskago nariechiia by lexicographer Ivan Nasovich (Ivan
Nosovich) (Sanktpeterburg, 1870) [12963.m.3], the
monumental three-volume study Bielorussy by academician
Iauchim Karski (Varshava 1903-Moskva 1916) [10292.l.29],
and Historyia belaruskai (kryuskai) knihi by the prominent
Belarusian historian Vatslau Lastouski (Kouna, U drukarni Sakalouskaha
i Lana, 1926) [J/2705.a.16].
Notable examples of the Library's Belarusian literary holdings
are: Taras na Parnase [anonymous] (Mahilou, 1902)
[011586.b.7(5)], one of the first works in modern Belarusian,
which was popular in manuscript form in the 19th century but only
published years later; the first edition of Vincuk Dunin-Martsinkevich's
Hapon (Minsk, 1855) [12591.b.30]. Twentieth
century Belarusian literature is represented in the collections
by authors such as Maksim Bahdanovich, Zmitrok Biadulia, Vasil Bykau,
Ciotka, Maksim Haretski, Larysa Heniiush, Ianka Kupala, Iakub Kolas,
Ivan Melezh, Maksim Tank and others.
More recent acquisitions include several facsimile reproductions
of Nasha Niva, the first newspaper in Belarusian, published
in Vilnia (now Vilnius) in 1906-1915 (British
Library Newspapers holds the original issues from 1910-1914,
as well as a renewed edition of Nasha Niva issued in 1996,
after the independence of Belarus). Works by the new generation
of Belarusian authors (such as Uladzimir Arlou, Adam Hliobus et
al.) are regularly acquired, along with newly established literary
periodicals.
The first three decades of the 20th century produced important
works in Belarusian. These include a number of publications of the
Instytut Belaruskae kul'tury held by the Library, which cover history,
language, ethnography and other subjects. There is also some material
published in Polish-run western Belarus between the two world wars.
The post-1945 period is quite adequately covered in the fields of
humanities, sociology, art, and, especially, the history of book-printing.
As a result of the interlibrary exchanges from 1960 onwards, Soviet
publications, including serials from Akademiia navuk BSSR and Belaruski
Dziarzhauny Universitet, are well represented in the collections.
These interlibrary exchanges are still functioning, although not
on such a scale as in previous years.
The above description applies mainly to material published in
Belarus. This is supplemented by other items about Belarus, i.e.
British books and serials which are received on Legal Deposit, and
publications selectively purchased from Europe and North America.
The Library has also acquired émigré works wherever possible.
Catalogues, printed guides and other
resources
Belarusian material is listed in the printed volumes of the British
Library General Catalogue of Printed Books to 1975 (for material
acquired before 1975 only) and the Integrated
Catalogue, which is accessible via the internet. Material acquired
and catalogued prior to 1975 is in Cyrillic (with headings in transliteration);
post-1975 material, however, is displayed in transliterated form,
according to Library of Congress rules. For information on searching
and transliteration, please see Searching
for Cyrillic items in the catalogues of the British Library: guidelines
and transliteration tables.
Catalogues and printed guides
- Church Slavonic entries from the British Library General
Catalogue, [prepared by Brad Sabin Hill] (London: The British
Library, 1992) [2725.g.1675]
- C.L. Drage, Russian and Church Slavonic books 1701-1800
in United Kingdom libraries (London, 1984) [RAR094.30947
and 2725.g.307] - lists all 18th century
holdings, except for recent acquisitions
- Cyrillic books printed before 1701 in British and Irish
collections: a union catalogue. Compiled by R. Cleminson,
C. Thomas, D. Radoslavova, A. Voznesenskii. (London: The British
Library, 2000) [HLR011.440947]
- Walker, Gregory. Library resources in Britain for the study
of Eastern Europe and the former U.S.S.R., compiled by Gregory
Walker and Jackie Johnson (Wheatley: G.Walker, 1992) [revised
edition in progress] [2719.k.1162]
Other resources
Belarusian material available elsewhere
in the British Library
Further information
Rimma Lough
Curator of Belarusian Collections
European Collections
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
United Kingdom
e-mail: slavonic@bl.uk
