Biełaruskija knižnyja paznaki Å­ zborach Biblijateki imia F. Skaryny Å­ Londanie by Juraś Łaŭryk (review)

Abstract

534 SEER, 8o, 3, 2002 Russian musical education, and on the interpretationand performanceof his ballets. These appear to have been reproduced verbatim, and convey the impression of a lively debate involving members of the audience, including one Ukrainian who was provoked into saying, 'So much of what I've heard today is the absolute distortion of the truth' (p. 3II). Solomon Volkov, apparentlyas lively in discussionas in his disputed memoir of Shostakovich, Testimony, seems to have been uncharacteristicallyequivocalwhen challenged about his reference to Nekrasov and Saltykov-Shchedrinas 'great Russian writers [. . .] who disliked ballet as a genre, as an art', responding to the question, 'Those aregreatRussianwriters?'with 'Yeah,well . . .' (p. 306). The impressiongained from reading this handsomely produced volume is that the conference from which it arose must have been a stimulatingand, in places, groundbreaking occasion. It is good that so much of it has been perpetuated in print, and the book should be of great interestto those whose minds arenot closed to the workof a much wronged and yet eternallypopular composer. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies ARNOLD MCMILLIN University College London Laiiryk,Juras. Bie1arusk#ja kniznyja paznakiu zborach Biblijateki imiaF. Skaryny u Londanie. The FrancisSkarynaBelarusianLibrary,London, 2001. 58 pp. Notes. Illustrations.L4.oo: $6.oo. THE FRANCIS SKARYNA BELARUSIAN LIBRARY has existed in its present form forthirtyyears.Basedon theprivatecollectionsof FrLeu Haroskaand Bishop Ceslai Sipovic, it has expanded greatly over the years, and now comprises a collection of books, periodicals and manuscriptsunrivalledin the West, with several items which are not to be found even in Belarusitself. In the present booklet one of the librarians,Juras Laaryk,has produced a fascinatingrichly illustrateddescriptionof one strikingaspectof the collection:namely, the most interestinginscriptions,authorial insertions and ex libris stamps to be found in a wide ranging selection of its books, from the biblical translationsand commentaries of Fraincisak Skaryna(c. I490-C. 1551) to the works of poets and writersof the twentieth-centurydiaspora. In a short introduction, noting the paucity of Belarusian bibliographical work and concomitant lack of fixed terminology, Lairyk seeksto explain his use of the expressionkniznyja paznaki.The remainderof the booklet is divided into three parts: authorial and readers' remarks;authorial notes of gift and dedication; and ex libris both printed and written by hand. Nearly half the pages are of illustrations,mainly of the book prefaces, but with one or two pictures of some of the authors and of a group of those who were mainly instrumentalin foundingthe Library. Latirykprovides an outline commentary on the nature and, sometimes, provenance of each of the books illustrated.The overall picture is one of an immensely rich specialist collection that, in the twentieth-century, was augmented by many gifts from prominent writers of the time. Its ancient books,too, presentgreatintrinsicinterest,aswell as some of the mostvaluable holdingsin a librarynamed afterBelarus'sgreatestrenaissancebookman. REVIEWS 535 The collection fromwhich the materialof thisbooklethas been drawnmay be seen by arrangementwith the chief librarian,FrAlexander Nadson at 37, Holden Rd, London NI2 8HS; telephone 020 8445 5358. Forthose unable to visit, and for all interestedin the studyof EastEuropeanbooksJuras Latryk's simply but attractivelyproduced booklet provides a concise and fascinating insightinto a little known but rich corner of the field. It may be orderedfrom the above address(theprice includespostage and packing).It is a bargainthat no Slavoniclibrarianwillwant to miss. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies ARNOLD MCMILLIN University College London Eastmond, Antony (ed.). EasternApproaches to Byzantium.Papers from the Thirty-third Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, University of Warwick,Coventry,March I999. Societyforthe Promotionof Byzantine Studies Publications, 9. Ashgate/Variorum, Aldershot, Burlington,VT, Singaporeand Sydney, 200I. XXi + 297 pp. Notes. Figures.Plates.Index. ?45-00? APPROACHES to Byzantiumin both the geographicaland mentalsensesarethe focus of this thought-provokingcollection of papers. Understandably, given Anthony Eastmond's own expertise in Georgian art, the emphasis is on the Caucasian neighbours of Byzantium, but consideration is also given to Byzantium's frontiers with Muslim powers further to the south and to the fluctuations in these physical and culturalfrontiersover the period from the tenth to the thirteenthcenturies.The contributorsclearlyfollowed their brief both to inform and to stimulatedebate and, refreshingly,the majorityof the work comes from 'easterners'making reference to Byzantium, rather than Byzantinists looking eastwards, although Jonathan Shepard contributes a characteristicallyperceptivere-appraisalof...