Museum of Printing in Polotsk

On September 8, 1990, on the day of the 500th anniversary of Francysk Skaryna, the Book Printing Museum was opened in his hometown - this is part of the National Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve, which, in addition to it, includes 10 more similar institutions. The museum is located in the building of the Fraternal School, which belonged to the Polotsk Epiphany Monastery; This house is an architectural monument of the 18th century. The exposition is based on sketches by artists S. Dmitriev and I. Kurzhalov.

2,500 artifacts are exhibited in 15 halls of the museum, the total exhibition area is 928 sq. m. The most interesting and valuable part of it - handwritten and first printed books. The pearls of the collection are "12 Speeches" by Hieronymus Faletsky (1558), "The Teaching Gospel" (1595), "The General Menaion" (1628). Laureates of the Art of the Book contest present modern printing.

The history of printing began long before the invention of the printing press. On the exhibition stands there are copyist's tools - a writing set, goose quills, a penknife.

The next room takes visitors 500 years back to the book workshop. The compositor sits at the cash desk, composing a printed matrix from individual letters. Next to the press, the master printer froze, carefully examining the printed page. Francysk Skaryna also worked in a similar printing house when he published the first editions of the Slavonic Bible with his commentaries.

Next, the guests of the museum are shown more modern equipment - a linotype, a hectograph, a stitching machine. Newspapers, advertisements, brochures, posters and, of course, books printed on them are exhibited next to the mechanisms and units. Excellent modern publications illustrate the high level of printing art achieved over the past centuries by fellow countrymen Francysk Skaryna.

The atmosphere of the museum is imbued with love and respect for their language, Belarusian and Slavic culture. The last hall is decorated with a wonderful statue “Dedication to the Native Word” sculpture by P. Voynitsky.