„Kolekcja bernardyńska”. Źródła do dziejów powstania styczniowego w zbiorach Litewskiego Muzeum Narodowego
'The Bernardine Collection'. Sources for the history of the January Uprising in the collection of the Lithuanian National Museum

Author(s): Aleksander Smalanczuk
Subject(s): Archiving, 19th Century
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: 1863–1864 uprising; archives of the insurgents; Bernardine Collection; documents in Belarusian; Konstanty Kalinowski
Summary/Abstract: In this article, I draw the readers’ attention to a collection of historical sources (the Bernardine Collection) kept at the Lithuanian National Museum, which is almost unknown to researchers. The history of its discovery began in 1989, when during conservation work in the Three Kings Chapel of the Bernardine Church in Vilnius, documents and objects from the period of the January Uprising were discovered. This so-called Bernardine Collection was part of the archive of the Vilnius insurgent organization. A brief review of the content of the documents is supplemented by an analysis of Belarusian-language documents from this collection, related to the campaigning activities of the Vilnius 'Reds', as well as materials related to the life and activities of the last leader of the uprising in Lithuania and Belarus, Konstantin Kalinovsky. The material includes such texts as 'Kaimszczyna na Litwie i Bielajrusi' (May 26, 1863); 'Do Ciebie swiaty nasz Ojcze' (September [?] 1863); draft of an unpublished issue of the newspaper 'Mużyckaja prauda' (dated October 12, 1862), and a Belarusian translation of an appeal of the Polish National Government (of May 3, 1863). Familiarity with the catalogue and documents of the Bernardine Collection convinces me of the uniqueness of the discovery, which can significantly expand our knowledge of the events of the Uprising in the territories of contemporary Lithuania and Belarus.

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