Presentation of the electronic version of the Laurentian Chronicle

The Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library will host events dedicated to the 1150th anniversary of the Russian statehood. The electronic version of the Laurentian Chronicle, a parchment manuscript, one of the largest literary monuments, will become the main event of the presentation. It is the oldest surviving list of records, which presents the story of the arrival of Rurik to Russia in 862. The manuscript itself is in the repository of the National Library of Russia and can be removed from it only a few times a year because its pages are sensitive to any influence.

The presentation will be held on June 20 in the framework of the inter-regional conference “Laurentian Chronicle. Historical memory and the succession of generations”. The participants will be the leading specialists of the State Hermitage Museum, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow and Saint-Petersburg State Universities, heads and specialists of the national libraries of Russia, representatives of public authorities and public organizations, scientists and artists.

- A joint project of the Center of the National Glory of Russia, the Presidential Library and the National Library of Russia on digitization of the Laurentian Chronicle is aimed to make the manuscript available to everyone. Its electronic version will be available on the anniversary date at the web sites of both libraries, - says library’s  PR-department manager Olga Erofeeva. – The same day the participants of the conference will have an opportunity to leaf through electronic pages of the Chronicle in the exhibition hall. Book materials devoted to the Laurentian Chronicle and the historical period described in it will also be featured.  A documentary film on digitization of the manuscript will be demonstrated on plasma panels.