The Museum of Books and Printing of Ukraine was founded by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR in March 1972, and 3 years later, in April 1975, the opening of the exhibition took place. The main premises of the institution are located in the building of the printing yard Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra, which was founded in 1615. In the courtyard there is a foundry workshop, also a museum building. The primary printing house was wooden and one-story. Her appearance is depicted in an engraving from 1638. In 1701, the wooden structure was replaced with a stone one. The fire of 1718 damaged it. The printing house was repaired, and over time a second floor was added. The museum building (building No. 9) is an architectural monument of the 18th century, in rather restrained forms of provincial baroque.
In May 2000, repair and restoration work was completed. The total exhibition area of the museum has increased to 930 m², and the area of two exhibition halls reaches 300 m². The museum’s collection was formed on the basis of the book department of the Kiev-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve and was significantly supplemented as a result of search work in the book depositories of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, expeditions around the country, gifts from famous book lovers (in particular, Grigory Kolyada – over 700 items ), collectors, publishers, artists (originals of book and machine graphics), as well as purchases for state and museum funds.
The museum contains over 56,000 exhibits that reflect the history of books and bookmaking on the territory of modern Ukraine from the times of Kievan Rus to the present day: copies (facsimiles) of handwritten books of the 11th-15th centuries, copies of the first printed Cyrillic books, originals of early printed books of the 16th-18th centuries centuries, wooden and copper clichés of engravers of the 17th-18th centuries, individual printing presses of the 18th-19th centuries, original book graphics of the 20th century. Old printed books of famous church, cultural and educational figures of the 17th-19th centuries, such as Peter Mogila, Innocent (Gisel), Ioaniky Galatovsky, Joseph Trizna, Lazar Baranovich, Dimitri Rostovsky, Evgeniy (Bolkhovitinov) are exhibited. The emphasis in the exhibition is on the fact that printing raised Ukrainian self-awareness. In particular, the role of Lvov, Ostrog, Kiev-Pechersk, and Chernigov book publishing houses in this process is depicted.
Where is the Museum of Books and Printing of Ukraine?
Lavrskaya street, 9 (building 9, 10)
(044) 280-79-76; 280-22-10; 280-78-43
10:00 – 17:00
Tuesday and last Friday of the month – closed