Volume: about 2000 copies.

Chronological framework: the beginning of the 17th – 21st centuries.

Language of documents: European, Slavic, Caucasian, Ural-Altai and other languages.

Additional information about the collection: the Miniature publications collection of the Bibliology Research Department is one of the most interesting collections of the library. The miniature book fund has about 2000 thousand units of storage that have print run from 1 copy up to 1 million copies. The first printed miniature book, The Mainz Journal, was created soon after the invention of printing by Johannes Gutenberg's student Peter Scheffer in 1468. Its fragments are stored in the Paris National Library.

The chronological coverage of the editions of the collection – beginning of the 17th – 21st centuries. One of the oldest identified at the moment is the book of the Italian cardinal and writer Andrian Castellési, “De sermone Latino ...”, published in Cologne in 1612. Miniature books of the famous Elsevier publishing house occupy an honorable place in the collection of the department. The Elseviers were printing both tomes and very small books measuring 8.8 by 4.4 cm, such as, for example, the Small Countries series. The department has several editions from this series. In particular: “Respublica Hollandie” 1630 (24°) – attributed to the Elsevirs, “Respublica et Status Regni Hungarie” (Leyden, 1634), “Portugallia” (Leyden, 1641), etc. Apart from the Elseviers, the library also includes miniature books by other Western European publishers of the 17th – 18th centuries.

A significant number of miniature books were published in the Soviet period in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, etc. One of the most original and small books presented in the collection can rightly be called the Moscow edition of “The Miracle of Miracles” (1985). Its size is 9x6 mm, the print run is 200 copies. This publication contains statements about the book by Alexander Pushkin and Maksim Gorky. Miracle of Miracles is the smallest of the miniature books of the Soviet period.

The place of honor in the collection of miniature publications of the department is occupied by the Belarusian book. The first Belarusian miniature book was published in 1833 in the Minsk printing house of Stefanovich. The publication was entitled “A Gift for Obedient Pupils for the New Year of 1834 or Moral Tales for Children, Serving for Education of Mind and Heart”. A microfilm of this book is stored in the National Library. The first Belarusian miniature books printed in Soviet Belarus are "The 23rd Dzyarzhyn Wounded Party Conference Conference" (Gomel, 1930) and "To Shock Workers of the Bolsheviks Printing" (Minsk, 1932). The systematic release of a miniature book in Belarus began only in 1965 with a collection of poems and songs by famous poet and songwriter Adam Rusak “Clear Streams”. It was followed by collections of poems by Yakub Kolas and Yanka Kupala translated into Russian. The two-volume is notable for its originality, both in design and size. Its format 37x47 mm is equal to the size of a matchbox, the print run - 6 thousand copies.

Since the 1960s and to this day, a significant number of Belarusian miniature publications have been printed. About 200 copies of miniature books published by Belarusian publishers are stored in the Book Science Research Institute.

Ownership signs: some miniature publications have dedicatory inscriptions, owner's notes, and seals.

Date of receipt: 1945 – present.

Sources: Верас, Н. Я. Калекцыя мініяцюрных кніг навукова-даследчага аддзела кнігазнаўства Нацыянальнай бібліятэкі Беларусі / Верас Н. Я. // Здабыткі : дакументальныя помнікі на Беларусі / Нацыянальная бібліятэка Беларусі. – Мінск, 1995–. – 2008. – Вып. 10. – С. 113–121.

 

Registration number: K-000000016