New data about the collection of Cyrillic publications (1525–1839) of Vilnius University Library

Collection of the old Cyrillic books at Vilnius University Library is preserved already for 150 years. This collection is a valuable part of the old Lithuanian book culture. Due to the major amount of defected items, the collection for many years was obscure and hardly accessible for the users. New discoveries in research of the Cyrillic press enabled to accomplish a comprehensive scientific description of Vilnius University Library collections in 2012–2013, to prepare and publish collection’s catalogue. These results today allow to update collection’s quantitative data, to provide new data on its specific features and value in the context of research on the old Lithuanian culture. The article in various aspects analyses composition of the collection of Cyrillic books and its provenances. Furthermore the article analyses and describes five earlier unknown unique 17th–18th c. Cyrillic publications from Vilnius, Supraśl, Kiev, and Chernihiv publishing houses. The article is supplemented by an addendum which introduces four books added to the collection in 2014, therefore not included into the catalogue