Oto fon Mauderodės spaudiniai LMA Vrublevskių bibliotekoje / Otto von Mauderode’s Publications in the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences

Abstract

2022 marked the 170th birth anniversary of one of the leading 19th-century Lithuanian printers, Otto von Mauderode (1852–1909). To celebrate this occasion, the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, from May 30 to June 30, 2022, ran an exhibition in his honour. The exhibits consisted of publications held by the Library: books, brochures, periodicals, proclamations, and maps. Von Mauderode’s printing house left a meaningful mark in the history of Lithuanian books. It produced almost all key Lithuanian publications of Lithuania Minor as well as about 800 publications intended for Lithuania Major. One of the main publishers printing Lithuanian books in Latin script (counterfeit publications) during the press ban, von Mauderode was known for his high standards in printing quality, especially in the artistic book design. He closely cooperated with various early-20th-century Lithuanian and American Lithuanian publishing houses, editorial offices, and bookstores (for instance, Marija Šlapelienė’s Vilnius shop) and was also involved in the trade of Lithuanian books, owning a bookstore that sold not only his own, but also other publishers’ publications. The versatile activities of von Mauderode’s firm were recognized with various awards. This paper aims to discuss von Mauderode’path towards the image of “the prince among printers” and to look into his publications kept in the Library based on the materials displayed at the exhibition. The Library’s collection of several hundred publications testifies to a broad scope of production and a high quality of published matter of von Mauderode’s firm. Keywords: Otto von Mauderode; history of printing; published matter; Tilsit; Lithuania Minor; Lithuania Major; press ban; counterfeit publications; periodicals; Vydūnas; art nouveau; Adomas Brakas; Vincas Kudirka; The Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.