Tweet
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TO MARK 'THE BIRTH OF THE ARMENIAN PRINTED HERITAGE'
asbarez
Monday, November 14th, 2011
The first page of the first printed Armenian Bible, known as Oskan
Bible in 1666
WASHINGTON-In April 2012, the Library of Congress will open an
exhibition in commemoration of the 500thanniversary of the first
printed Armenian book and the first printing press dedicated to the
publication of works in the Armenian script [Urbatagirk, The Book of
Fridays, printed by Hakob Meghapart in Venice, Italy]. The exhibition
will also celebrate the designation by UNESCO of Yerevan, as the Book
Capital of the World, 2012.
Located at the Library of Congress across from the United States
Capitol, the exhibition will display 50 items from the Library's
Armenian language collections held by the Near East Section of the
African and Middle Eastern Division and in other custodial divisions
tochart not only the birth of Armenian publishing but also the
continuity and expansion of its literary tradition in the land of the
Armenians and in its far-reaching ancient Diaspora. The magnificent
collections of the Library of Congress, numbering at present over
144,000,000 items, are justifiably famous. In addition, given the
extreme rarity of Armenian incunabula, that is, books published between
1511/12 and 1695 A.D., three items will be borrowed from public and
private collections to augment the breadth and depth of the exhibition.
The exhibition will be mounted in the Northwest gallery off the Great
Hall of the historic Thomas Jefferson Building. This exquisitely
decorated space has been the site of several recent exhibitions
such as the immensely popular Voices from Afghanistan. Its proximity
to the Great Hall and the natural flow of traffic to it guarantees
a steady stream of visitors to the exhibition during three of the
busiest tourist months in the nation's capital.
The exhibition will begin by displaying manuscripts and early imprints
to illustrate the natural evolution from the hand-copied to the
printed book.
Fonts and engravings traveled from place to place in early printing,
with European influences on display in both the printed and manuscript
traditions .Armenians in the Diaspora published works on all subjects
and in a variety of formats. Armenians in the Ottoman Empire published
numerous works in Turkish using the Armenian script.
The manuscript tradition continued to co-exist with extensive
publishing wherever the Armenians were located, in the first Republic
which ended in 1920, throughout the Diaspora and in the United States.
The exhibition will be designed and installed by the Library's
renowned Interpretative Programs Office that is responsible for the
Library's award-winning exhibitions. Dr. Levon Avdoyan, who has been
at the institution for 33 years and ha spublished widely on Armenian
history and culture and on the Library's collections, will curate
the exhibition. Dr. Avdoyan has been the Armenian and Georgian Area
Specialist at the Library of Congress since 1991 and oversees the
expansion of the Armenian custodial collection.
Exhibition Publication: To Know Wisdom and Instruction: 500 Years of
the Armenian Literary Tradition, written by Dr. Avdoyan based on the
Library of Congress's collections, will be published both in book form
and as an eBook that will be available on the Library's web page. This
highly illustrated work will examine the Armenian literary tradition
in its entirety.
In addition to the availability of the companion volume, an illustrated
brochure will be provided as a handout in the exhibition.
Drawing on its central themes, the brochure will summarize the content
of the exhibition and the materials presented in it and acknowledge
the exhibition's sponsors.
Online Outreach: An online version, following the themes of the
physical exhibition, will be made available in perpetuity on the
Library's website. The Library of Congress's online exhibitions have
been viewed by tens of millions of people around the world. This
exhibition will take its permanent place among the many acclaimed
exhibits on the Library's Web site, www.loc.gov/exhibits, which
receives five billion hits a year.
From: Baghdasarian
asbarez
Monday, November 14th, 2011
The first page of the first printed Armenian Bible, known as Oskan
Bible in 1666
WASHINGTON-In April 2012, the Library of Congress will open an
exhibition in commemoration of the 500thanniversary of the first
printed Armenian book and the first printing press dedicated to the
publication of works in the Armenian script [Urbatagirk, The Book of
Fridays, printed by Hakob Meghapart in Venice, Italy]. The exhibition
will also celebrate the designation by UNESCO of Yerevan, as the Book
Capital of the World, 2012.
Located at the Library of Congress across from the United States
Capitol, the exhibition will display 50 items from the Library's
Armenian language collections held by the Near East Section of the
African and Middle Eastern Division and in other custodial divisions
tochart not only the birth of Armenian publishing but also the
continuity and expansion of its literary tradition in the land of the
Armenians and in its far-reaching ancient Diaspora. The magnificent
collections of the Library of Congress, numbering at present over
144,000,000 items, are justifiably famous. In addition, given the
extreme rarity of Armenian incunabula, that is, books published between
1511/12 and 1695 A.D., three items will be borrowed from public and
private collections to augment the breadth and depth of the exhibition.
The exhibition will be mounted in the Northwest gallery off the Great
Hall of the historic Thomas Jefferson Building. This exquisitely
decorated space has been the site of several recent exhibitions
such as the immensely popular Voices from Afghanistan. Its proximity
to the Great Hall and the natural flow of traffic to it guarantees
a steady stream of visitors to the exhibition during three of the
busiest tourist months in the nation's capital.
The exhibition will begin by displaying manuscripts and early imprints
to illustrate the natural evolution from the hand-copied to the
printed book.
Fonts and engravings traveled from place to place in early printing,
with European influences on display in both the printed and manuscript
traditions .Armenians in the Diaspora published works on all subjects
and in a variety of formats. Armenians in the Ottoman Empire published
numerous works in Turkish using the Armenian script.
The manuscript tradition continued to co-exist with extensive
publishing wherever the Armenians were located, in the first Republic
which ended in 1920, throughout the Diaspora and in the United States.
The exhibition will be designed and installed by the Library's
renowned Interpretative Programs Office that is responsible for the
Library's award-winning exhibitions. Dr. Levon Avdoyan, who has been
at the institution for 33 years and ha spublished widely on Armenian
history and culture and on the Library's collections, will curate
the exhibition. Dr. Avdoyan has been the Armenian and Georgian Area
Specialist at the Library of Congress since 1991 and oversees the
expansion of the Armenian custodial collection.
Exhibition Publication: To Know Wisdom and Instruction: 500 Years of
the Armenian Literary Tradition, written by Dr. Avdoyan based on the
Library of Congress's collections, will be published both in book form
and as an eBook that will be available on the Library's web page. This
highly illustrated work will examine the Armenian literary tradition
in its entirety.
In addition to the availability of the companion volume, an illustrated
brochure will be provided as a handout in the exhibition.
Drawing on its central themes, the brochure will summarize the content
of the exhibition and the materials presented in it and acknowledge
the exhibition's sponsors.
Online Outreach: An online version, following the themes of the
physical exhibition, will be made available in perpetuity on the
Library's website. The Library of Congress's online exhibitions have
been viewed by tens of millions of people around the world. This
exhibition will take its permanent place among the many acclaimed
exhibits on the Library's Web site, www.loc.gov/exhibits, which
receives five billion hits a year.
From: Baghdasarian