Binding marks of the book collections of rulers and noblemen of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16-17th century.

Superekslibrisas (lot. super- ant, exlibris - iš knygų) - knygos nuosavybės ženklas, įspaudžiamas knygos viršelio išorinėje pusėje. Superekslibrisai pasirodė Vakarų Europoje XV a., labiausiai išplito XVI-XVII a. Superekslibrisus dažniausiai naudojo valdovų, didikų, dvasininkų, religinių ir mokslo institucijų bibliotekos. Jį paprastai sudarydavo knygos savininko herbas, vardo, pavardės bei titulų inicialai. Superekslibrisas dažniausiai būdavo viršutinio kietviršio, retai - apatinio, centre. Pirminė jo paskirtis buvo parodyti, kam knyga priklauso. Kiti naudojami knygų priklausomybės ženklai yra ekslibrisai, lipdės, įrašai, antspaudai. Visos šios proveniencijos rodo bibliotekų formavimosi istoriją ir raidą, padeda rekonstruoti senuosius knygų rinkinius. [...]The books donated to Vilnius Jesuit College, and later - to Vilnius University by the ruler of Lithuania and Poland Sigismund Augustus, the noblemen Radvilai and Sapiegos, the bishops Jurgis Albinas,Valerijonas Protasevičius, Eustachijus Valavičiaus, and other famous historical personalities of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) of the 16-17th century are preserved in the funds of Vilnius University library and other major libraries of Lithuania. The oldest book, which was bound in Vilnius, c 1527, is "Herebaschius Conradus, Herodoti Halicarnassei historiographi librinovem..., Coloniae", 1526 with the supralibros of Sigismund the Old: the coat of arms with Vytis and the year of plate engraving - 1518. Therefore, the plate for the first known supralibros was engraved in 1518 at Vilnius Mint. Another supralibros of Sigismund the Old is on the hard cover of the manuscript book "Минея месячная на февраль" written in the Church Slavonic language in the first half of the 16th century. It differs from the above mentioned supralibros - there is no imprinted years, and Vytis on a horse is riding to other, i.e. left side. Also, the supralibros of his son Sigismund Augustus are imprinted in the books which are preserved in Vilnius University library. One of them is imprinted on the hard cover of the book "Lucidus, Joannes. Deemendationibus temporum...Venezia", 1546 - with the inscription around "SIGISMVNDVS AUGVSTVS REX POLONIE MAG DVXLITVANI"; on the left side - the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland with a single-headed eagle and the twined initials of Sigismund Augustus - SA, on the right - Vytis of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Another supralibros of Sigismund Augustus is in the book "Budeus, Gulielmus. G. Budei Parisiensis... De tranzitu Hellenismiad Christianismumlibritres.-Parisiis": a Renaissance round wreath without inscriptions, on its left side is the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland with a single-headed eagle and twined initials SA (Sigismund Augustus), on the right - Vytis of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The third supralibros of Sigismund Augustus - "Vives, Joannes Ludovicus. Dedisciplinislibri XX. (Lyon, 1551)" - a Renaissance round wreath, on the top and bottom tied with ribbons. The shields are close to each other inside it, an eagle is on one of them, which is twisted with a letter S, twined with a letter A, on another shield there is a rider. There are the crown of the king and Grand Duke's hat above the shields. The books of the noblemen and priests of GDL are marked with supralibros as well. One of them is "Epiktetos Hierapolites. Enchiridion. T.2. Basel", 1563, which belonged to Vilnius suffragan bishop Jurgis Albinijus (Albinas) (1535-1570). On the hard cover of light colour leather there is the title of the book and a supralibros of Albinijus-the coat of arms of the family in a Renaissance wreath (three scythes and a rose), a bishop's insignia (mitra), and the owner's initials: G[eorgius] A[lbinius] E[piscopus] M[etonensis]. The books of another famous humanist of the 16th c., a founder of Vilnius Jesuit college and library, a bishop Valerijonas Protasevičius (1504-1579) were bound by Vilnius bookbinders with dark brown leather with imprinted supralibros of the family: in the centre of the upper hard cover there are a half-moon and two stars with bishop's insignias and initials V[alerianus] D[ei] G[ratia] E[piscopus] V[vilnensis]-a book "Surius, Laurentius. Commentariusbrevisreruminorbegestarum. Köln", 1568. [...] The main aim of supralibros is the marking of ownership of a book. A supralibros can be considered as a decoration element of a book, that provides the information about the owner of a book, its history, and, together with other decoration elements on a book cover shows the tendencies of bookbinding of GDL in the context of West European book