| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of the research is to analyse from the perspective of book science the reception and development of the manuscript book culture in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the 14th century to the second half of the 16th century. The reception of book culture in the GDL is examined in the context of long-term political, denominational, social, cultural and mental processes. For a long time such subjects as the manuscript book of the GDL and the conditions of its dissemination attracted only fragmentary attention. Upon abandonment of the use of the language criterion in culture history, the scope of research in the history of the manuscript book significantly expanded. Bringing together those culture components that were considered in historiography to be of a strictly national nature yielded a cross-cultural corpus of the GDL‘s manuscript books, which is instrumental for a new interpretation of the facts. This enabled the author to investigate separate processes of the development of the book as a whole and to study their interactions on the territory of the entire GDL. The research thus clarifies the beginnings of book history in the GDL, looks into hitherto little studied manuscript book production processes and work organization, analyses a continuous development of the structure of the manuscript book in the GDL. It attempts to put a different emphasis on the aspect of social purpose, answering the questions: who and for whom created books, how and for what purpose books were used and how they were viewed by society. The current research is the first to introduce some archaeological artifacts and results of a chemical study of the substances used in book manufacture. |
