Presentation of Research on Cyrillic Publications of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to be Held in Białystok

Who is the Author?

Zoya Perasłaŭcaŭ-Jaraševič is a Polish historian specializing in the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. For many years, she served as the director of the Institute of History and International Relations at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. The book, whose Belarusian translation will be presented, was published by this university's press.

What is This Book About?

This is currently the most comprehensive academic study dedicated to books in Old Belarusian and Church Slavonic languages published in our lands before their incorporation into the Russian Empire.

The book reveals the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from an unexpected angle. In popular consciousness, only a few prominent Belarusian book printers from the GDL era are known — typically Francysk Skaryna and Symon Budny. The study reveals the full scope of book publishing activity in the GDL — dozens of book printers are brought back from oblivion, and the output of dozens of publishers, whose activities had an undeniable cultural effect, is examined. Over three centuries, Belarusian printing houses in the GDL published about 380 editions, with a total volume exceeding 22.55 thousand sheets.

From the book you can learn:

• how many printing houses operated in the GDL that published books in Old Belarusian, and in which cities and towns they were located;
• what were the print runs and repertoire of these publications;
• which printing houses operated for the longest time;
• which printing houses led in terms of the volume of book production. What was the total number;
• what can be said about the content of the published books, their genres, and functional types;
• what was distinctive about the graphical aspect of the prints, the formats of the publications, and their design (page numbering techniques, font styles and typesetting techniques, use of headpieces and tailpieces, initials, marginal frames, title pages, illustrations).

Date of presentation: April 17, 2026 (Friday), 18:00—20:00 (CET).

Belarusian Hub «Novaja Ziamla» (New Land) (Białystok, ul. św. Rocha 5/32).

The presentation is held with the support of the European Union program 'EU4Belarus: Support to Advanced Learning and Training (SALT II).

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