Penza schoolchildren learned about the emergence of writing and book printing

Specialists of the Regional Center of the Presidential Library based on the Lermontov Penza Regional Library held an entertaining lesson on the history of writing and printing for first grade students of Lyceum № 73.

Schoolchildren learned about where the most ancient rock paintings were found, what knot writing and hieroglyphs are, what cuneiform tablets were made of, who invented paper, and why books were chained to shelves in medieval libraries.

As part of the event, the children were told about the technique of making papyrus in ancient Egypt. The students learned about Novgorod birch bark letters and the design of the printing press. It was also about the first printing house in Russia, where Ivan Fedorov, one of the first book printers in Rus', published books.

Digitized materials from the Presidential Library’s collections were presented at the lesson. The children were shown the textbooks used by schoolchildren in the old days. Guided by the example of the illustrated edition Primer of Karion Istomin (1694), which is available on the Presidential Library’s portal, each student was able to draw his initial letter - the first capital letter at the beginning of a book or chapter, decorated with an ornament.

At the end of the event, the children were told about the process of publishing printed publications is going on today and how paper books get into electronic libraries.

The Presidential Library’s portal features the collection Penza Region: Pages of History. It includes archival documents, essays, studies, statistical and other materials covering various aspects of the development of the region in different historical periods.

Based on the materials of https://www.liblermont.ru/ portal