Officina plantiniana books at the National Library

Project funding and value
Lithuanian Science Council. The value of the project is EUR 15,517

Project implementation period
Project start: 11 February 2022 Project end: 31 December 2022

Project aim
Release the Officina Plantiniana catalogue of books held in the National Library and thus disseminate the collection, updating its Lithuanian aspect and including it in the circulation of international research.

Project objectives

1. Publish a catalogue presenting the collection of the National Library.
2. Publish a metadata set.
3. Finish writing and translating into English an introductory article analysing the proprietary marks of the National Library’s collection of books.
4. Finish preparing Officina Plantiniana publisher annotations.
5. Disseminate the catalogue - organise the presentation of the publication in the National Library, organise a remote international presentation of the book by attracting representatives from various Western European memory institutions and publish a video of the presentation event on social networks.

Project results

Quantitative results of the project:

1. Registration and scientific description of the works held in the National Library of the printing house set up by Christophe Plantin (1520–1589), the most famous printer and publisher of the second half of 16th century Western Europe, who was based in the Netherlands, France and Germany.
2. Compiled and released the Officina Plantiniana catalogue of books published in the printing house.

Qualitative project results:

1. Researchers of Lithuanian and foreign cultural history and those interested in old documentary heritage have the opportunity to get acquainted with the books presented in the catalogue, their trademarks and book graphics.
2. Contribution to increasing the popularity of the old Lithuanian and European cultural heritage.

Planned impact of the project

1. The publication of a catalogue of books published in Officina Plantiniana is expected to complement the existing research on the subject of Plantin’s printing house and to provide an opportunity for more in-depth and extensive research in the context of European book science.
2. The cultural heritage stored in the National Library updated, and public attention drawn to the documentary heritage.
3. Encouraging the target audience - academics, library professionals - to take an interest in European book culture.

Short presentation of the project
The catalogue of books of Plantin’s printing house, kept in the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, will qualitatively supplement the existing publications of Plantin’s printing house worldwide and in Lithuania. This catalogue will complement the communication and distribution path of Lithuanian books by updating the publications of the most famous Western European printing house Officina Plantiniana. The collection of the National Library is the second largest in Lithuania, with only around 70 publications being duplicates, with the books of the largest Plantin’s collection in Lithuania kept in Vilnius University Library. The main part of the catalogue will consist of bibliographic data, condition and graphics of the books. The catalogue will also include publications known from the Plantin-Moretus archive (the principal researcher of the Officina Plantiniana printing house) but not yet widely used in scientific production. These are important data from comprehensive international and interdisciplinary research in culturology, book history, and other fields. Particular attention is paid to trademarks, which open up opportunities for research into the biographies of the collective book owners of the Plantin’s printing house. In addition to the published catalogue, open access to the e-book version will be created, and an open access metadata set will be published to meet the needs of the modern researcher, enabling the easier and better search and re-use of information. The catalogue will be supplemented by an introductory article, which will systematise information about the former owners of the National Library’s Plantin’s books and the possible circumstances of the books entering Lithuania (these books were purchased, donated, and later collected by collectors). The catalogue of the National Library, which is planned to be published, covers almost the entire period of operation of the Plantin’s printing house (the oldest books in this collection were published in 1564, the latest in 1755), so the books are grouped according to the publishers of the Plantin-Moretus dynasty at the time, who headed Officina Plantiniana until 1876 (its closure). This actualises the period of operation of the printing house in the second half of the 17th century throughout the 18th century, regarding which the attention paid by researchers is still too little.

Project leader
Dr Viktorija Vaitkevičiūtė Verbickienė, Head of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; tel. (8 5) 239 8586

Project promoters
Dr Milda Kvizikevičiūtė, Chief Researcher, Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Eva Praškevič, Senior Researcher, Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.