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LIBRARY MARKS 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN PRINTING WITH EXHIBITION, PUBLICATION
US Fed News
April 18, 2012 Wednesday 1:19 PM EST
WASHINGTON, April 18 -- The Library of Congress issued the following
news release:
In 1512, Hakob Meghapart (Jacob the Sinner) opened an Armenian press in
Venice, Italy, and published an Armenian religious book, "Urbatagirk"
(the Book of Fridays). The era of Armenian printing had begun.
To mark the quincentenary of this event and UNESCO's designation of
Yerevan-the capital of the Republic of Armenia-as its Book Capital
of the World, 2012, the Library of Congress will open an exhibition,
"To Know Wisdom and Instruction: The Armenian Literary Tradition at the
Library of Congress" on April 19, in the South Gallery of the Thomas
Jefferson Building. The exhibition, which will remain on view from
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, through Sept. 26,
may also be viewed online at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/.
Drawing from the Armenian collections of the Library of Congress,
the exhibition will display the varieties of the Armenian literary
tradition from the era of manuscripts through the early periods of
print and on to contemporary publishing.
Manuscripts in the exhibition will range from 14th- and 15th-century
gospel books hand-copied by monks to 19th-century works on palmistry
(Constantinople, 1894), fire-fighting (Venice, 1832), cotton production
(Paris, 1859) and the first modern Armenian novel, "Armenia's Wounds,"
by K. Abovyan (1848). The first complete Armenian language printed
Bible from Amsterdam in 1666 will be on display, along with a richly
illuminated missal copied in 1722 for the use of the celebrant of
the Armenian liturgy and a rare 19th-century musical manuscript by
Pietro Bianchini, who was the first to transcribe the Armenian liturgy
using European musical notation. A 20th-century Soviet edition of
the Armenian national epic, "David of Sasun" (1962) will also be
on display.
The 16th Annual Vardanants Day Lecture will be delivered by Kevork
Bardakjian, the Marie Manoogian Chair of Armenian Language and
Literature at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, at noon on
Thursday, April 19 in the Northeast Pavilion of the Thomas Jefferson
Building. The lecture, titled "Scribes, Compositors and the Mind in the
Making: the Armenian Script and the Creation of an Armenian Literary
Identity," is sponsored by the Near East Section of the African and
Middle Eastern Division. Bardakjian will be joined by Levon Avdoyan,
the Library's Armenian and Georgian area specialist in the Near East
Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division, who will discuss
"The Continuity and Change of an Armenian Identity in the Digital
Age." Avdoyan is curator of the new Armenian exhibition. The event
is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but seating
is limited.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Library of Congress has
published an exhibition catalog titled "To Know Wisdom and Instruction:
A Visual Survey of the Armenian Literary Tradition from the Library
of Congress," compiled by Avdoyan. This 100-page softcover book with
75 images is available for $25 in bookstores nationwide and through
the Library of Congress Shop, http://www.loc.gov/shop/, (888) 682-3557.
The exhibition and catalog have been made possible through generous
grants from the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund, the Dadian Fund of
the Library of Congress, Roger Strauch and Julie Kulhanjian Strauch,
the Vartkess and Rita Balian Family Foundation and the Sami and Annie
Totah Family Foundation.
The Library's African and Middle Eastern Division
(http://www.loc.gov/rr/amed/) is the center for the study of 78
countries and regions from Southern Africa to the Maghreb and from
the Middle East and the Caucasus to Central Asia. The division's Near
East Section is a major repository for Armenian language materials
on a wide variety of subjects in varied formats.
Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation's oldest
federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination
and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by
providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections,
programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library's rich resources can
be accessed through it website at http://www.loc.gov
US Fed News
April 18, 2012 Wednesday 1:19 PM EST
WASHINGTON, April 18 -- The Library of Congress issued the following
news release:
In 1512, Hakob Meghapart (Jacob the Sinner) opened an Armenian press in
Venice, Italy, and published an Armenian religious book, "Urbatagirk"
(the Book of Fridays). The era of Armenian printing had begun.
To mark the quincentenary of this event and UNESCO's designation of
Yerevan-the capital of the Republic of Armenia-as its Book Capital
of the World, 2012, the Library of Congress will open an exhibition,
"To Know Wisdom and Instruction: The Armenian Literary Tradition at the
Library of Congress" on April 19, in the South Gallery of the Thomas
Jefferson Building. The exhibition, which will remain on view from
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, through Sept. 26,
may also be viewed online at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/.
Drawing from the Armenian collections of the Library of Congress,
the exhibition will display the varieties of the Armenian literary
tradition from the era of manuscripts through the early periods of
print and on to contemporary publishing.
Manuscripts in the exhibition will range from 14th- and 15th-century
gospel books hand-copied by monks to 19th-century works on palmistry
(Constantinople, 1894), fire-fighting (Venice, 1832), cotton production
(Paris, 1859) and the first modern Armenian novel, "Armenia's Wounds,"
by K. Abovyan (1848). The first complete Armenian language printed
Bible from Amsterdam in 1666 will be on display, along with a richly
illuminated missal copied in 1722 for the use of the celebrant of
the Armenian liturgy and a rare 19th-century musical manuscript by
Pietro Bianchini, who was the first to transcribe the Armenian liturgy
using European musical notation. A 20th-century Soviet edition of
the Armenian national epic, "David of Sasun" (1962) will also be
on display.
The 16th Annual Vardanants Day Lecture will be delivered by Kevork
Bardakjian, the Marie Manoogian Chair of Armenian Language and
Literature at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, at noon on
Thursday, April 19 in the Northeast Pavilion of the Thomas Jefferson
Building. The lecture, titled "Scribes, Compositors and the Mind in the
Making: the Armenian Script and the Creation of an Armenian Literary
Identity," is sponsored by the Near East Section of the African and
Middle Eastern Division. Bardakjian will be joined by Levon Avdoyan,
the Library's Armenian and Georgian area specialist in the Near East
Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division, who will discuss
"The Continuity and Change of an Armenian Identity in the Digital
Age." Avdoyan is curator of the new Armenian exhibition. The event
is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but seating
is limited.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Library of Congress has
published an exhibition catalog titled "To Know Wisdom and Instruction:
A Visual Survey of the Armenian Literary Tradition from the Library
of Congress," compiled by Avdoyan. This 100-page softcover book with
75 images is available for $25 in bookstores nationwide and through
the Library of Congress Shop, http://www.loc.gov/shop/, (888) 682-3557.
The exhibition and catalog have been made possible through generous
grants from the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund, the Dadian Fund of
the Library of Congress, Roger Strauch and Julie Kulhanjian Strauch,
the Vartkess and Rita Balian Family Foundation and the Sami and Annie
Totah Family Foundation.
The Library's African and Middle Eastern Division
(http://www.loc.gov/rr/amed/) is the center for the study of 78
countries and regions from Southern Africa to the Maghreb and from
the Middle East and the Caucasus to Central Asia. The division's Near
East Section is a major repository for Armenian language materials
on a wide variety of subjects in varied formats.
Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation's oldest
federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination
and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by
providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections,
programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library's rich resources can
be accessed through it website at http://www.loc.gov