Abstract:
This article aims to give an overview of the 15th–17th century books from the library of the Vilnius Evangelical Reformers Synod now kept in the Rare Book and Manuscript Department of the National Library of Lithuania. The oldest in Lithuania, the Synod Library was founded in 1557 near the Vilnius Evangelical Reformers Church by Prince Mikalojus Radvila the Black (*1515–†1565). On February 15, 1941 it became part of the then Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. In July 1944, the retrea- ting German Army set on fire the former premises of the Vilnius Evangelical Reformers Synod, at the time housing the Synod Library. At present, the surviving books are kept not in one, but in several locations: in the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, and possibly elsewhere. The article ponders on how the Synod’s books could have found their way to the National Library. Inventory book records show that the first books from the Synod Library were bought in 1946. According to statistic data, the library of the Vilnius Evangelical Reformers Synod in 1937 comprised 10 410 titles (17 782 volumes), including 2493 books published in the 15th–17th century: 5 incunabula, 548 titles of the 16th century and 1940 titles of the 17th century. Today 75 books (108 titles) of the 15th–17th century from the former Synod Library are kept in the Rare Book and Manuscript Department: 1 incunabulum and 37 books each from the 16th and 17th century. Approximately a half of these (31 books) are in theology; of the secular publications, the larger part are in law (10 books) and history (12 books; some are works by classical authors (9 books); several books each are in philosophy, science, and fiction. In respect to publication language, books published in Latin (45 books) and Polish (27 books) prevail; there are only three publications in other languages: Lithuanian (2 books) and Czech (1 book). The oldest Synod’s book in the National Library is the only one from the 15th century: Biblia Latina (also known as Menardus’ Bible), published in 1480 by Anton Koberger’s printing house in Nuremberg. The majority of Synod’s books now kept in the National Library are bibliographic rarities, some of them being unique Lithuanistic publications.
