The Sofia Library celebrates May 11 – the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius and the professional holiday of the Bulgarian librarian, with an interesting festive program. On May 11 at 11:30 a.m. in the Marble Lobby of the library, the new photo-documentary exhibition “Bulgarian Manuscripts Around the World” will be opened.
The exhibition presents unique Bulgarian manuscripts that are located in various museums around the world, and unfortunately, most Bulgarians do not have the opportunity to see them in person. Golden pages of Bulgarian literature, sacred examples of our writing are kept in large European libraries and museums. Neither the Vatican copy of the Manasseh Chronicle, nor the London Tetragrammaton or the Bologna Psalter were written in the places whose names they bear. They were brought by foreign collectors in the 18th and 19th centuries, when our monasteries were looted en masse and valuable books were stolen. Therefore, today we want to introduce Sofia residents and guests of the capital to the written testimonies that are important for every Bulgarian – legends of the Bulgarian spirit and culture. The exhibition “Bulgarian Manuscripts Around the World” includes posters with the London Tetragrammaton, the Chronicle of Manasseh, the Aseman Gospel, the Tomich Psalter, the Vidin Gospel, the Zagreb Triodion, the Vatican Palimpsest, the Rila Glagolitic Sheets, the Suprasl Collection.
The exhibition presents valuable books and albums from the library’s collection related to Bulgarian manuscripts, as well as the museums and libraries in Europe where they are kept. Also included are phototype books with manuscript texts from the Middle Ages, rare calligraphic editions, etc.
Excursion tours “The Secret Corners of the Library” will take visitors to those places in the library unknown to readers, where free access is prohibited. These are the book depositories for books, periodicals, gramophone records, sheet music, for rare and valuable publications, which have a special storage regime. The tour includes a visit to the emblematic museum collections of the Literary Museum "Notable Bulgarians" with the personal libraries and original artifacts of the great Bulgarian statesmen and artists - Dr. Konstantin Stoilov, Simeon Radev and Kiril Hristov. An interesting demonstration of the special machine for cleaning valuable and old publications is planned.
Opening: May 11, 2026, 11:30 AM
Place: Sofia Library, "Petko R. Slaveykov" Sq. №4
Closing: May 26, 2026, 5:00 PM
Source: SB
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