This series of photos will introduce you to the Writing and Printing Department of the Lavra Museum of Cults and Life (part of the All-Ukrainian Museum Town) date from the 1920s and early 1930s.
The department’s collection includes a part of the collection manuscripts and engravings from the Church-Archaeological Museum at the Kyiv Theological Academy, manuscripts, printed books and official documents from the sacristy of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, materials of the Lavra icon-painting workshop, a collection of cliches of the Lavra Printing House, examples of books from the library of the Archimandrite Philadelph (Pshenychnykov), the print worker of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, etc. The exposition of the Department, which was opened in 1929, introduced the visitor to the history of writing and book printing on a chronological basis. Rare examples of cuneiform writing of the Mesopotamia, Egyptian papyri, Greek parchment manuscripts of the 5th – 6th centuries, pages from the 10th-century Kyiv manuscripts written in Glagolitic script, the Nicomedian Gospel of the late 12th – early 13th centuries, a collection of old prints, including European editions of the 15th century, and a significant number of Ukrainian editions of the 17th-18th centuries, examples of musical notations, etc were kept there.
Until 1930, the Department was headed by Pavlo Popov, Ukrainian art and literary critic (1890–1971). The Writing and Printing Department was located on the premises of the former house of the Father Superior of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (building Nr. 1).
Next week in the project “Memories of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” you will be able to see historical photos dedicated to the tragic events in the history of this site date from early November 1941.
