Lietuvos mokslų akademijos bibliotekos Retų spaudinių skyriaus unikumai

Abstract

Using the example of unique publications kept in the Rare Book Department of the library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, the article addresses the concept of uniqueness. In the department, there are more than two hundred extremely rare monuments of literature (in Lithuanian, Latin, Polish, Germanic languages) of diverse origin. The rarity of the documents is ascertained using various bibliographical sources. Among the latters, especially helpful are summary catalogues listing known remaining copies of unique publications both in Lithuanian and foreign libraries. The department also has in its holdings a unique collection of cuneiform tablets reaching as far back as the XXII century B.C., which was deposited in the Vrublevskiai library by the collector Pranciškus Tičkovskis (Franciszek Tyczkowski) in the third decade of the XX century.