The Manuscript Section at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences

Abstract

THE MANUSCRIPT SECTION of the Central Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Lithuanian SSR is a treasure trove of historical source materials virtually untapped by Western scholars. Its holdings may be divided into three major parts: (I) archives of estates, institutions, and societies, the last mainly of the twentieth century; (2) collections from various libraries, primarily the Vrublevskis family library and the Vilnius Public Library; (3) personal collections, of which there are 268 containing approximately I50,000 items. About 40 percent of the latter are in Cyrillic orthography (i.e., Russian, Belorussian, etc.), about 35 percent in Polish, and the remaining 25 percent in German, Latin, and Lithuanian. The documents available in the Manuscript Section cover a variety of neglected historical subjects. The origins and dynamics of the nobility, the history of crafts and the economy, religious history, and the Church latifundia after the sixteenth century are all topics that may be investigated here. There is one published guide that, when used with the card catalogue in the reading room, is rather helpful: Lietuvos TSR Moksln akademija, Centrine biblioteka, Rankras'cizl rinkiniai: Lietuvos TSR Mokslzt akademijos Centrines bibliotekos XI-XX am'zi rankras'ciz; fondzt trumpa apzvalga (Vilnius, I963). It is simply a listing of I 58 major catalogued collections with a very brief description of the contents and bibliography of each collection listed, with brief references to other collections. There are individual cards in the reading room catalogue for manuscripts in many of the collections, but not all collections listed in the guide are analyzed in this manner. In most of the latter cases there are lists available. There is also one very important list, Opisanie rukopisnogo otdeleniia Vilenskoi publichnoi biblioteki (5 vols.; Vilna, I895-I906), a publication available in the reading room with notes as to which collections are represented therein. However, such early printed inventories do not always accurately represent the document cited, and sometimes only a close analysis will reveal its actual contents. A number of personal funds are presently uncatalogued. Among them are those of A. Janulaitis (including about 75 percent of the court cases he undertook), K. Avizonis, K. Jablonskis, J. Jonynas, P. Pakarklis, I. Lappo, P. Klimas, S. Koscialkowski, V. Birzi'ska, and M. Birzi'ska. Unfortunately there is no serial publication dealing with holdings of the Manuscript Section, nor any bulletin published listing new acquisitions. One must seek the aid of the staff in order to be aware of the latest procurements.