Rare Books

Temporary changes in lending practice!

From November 23, 2022 to April 3, 2023 library items from the Main Stacks, Rare Books and Old Periodicals, Manuscripts and Manuscripts stacks will be transferred to the reconstructed stacks building.
During this period, some items will not be available for the readers.

For more information please contact:
Circulation Desk: tel. (8 5) 262 3678, e-mail abonementas@mab.lt;
Rare Books Department: tel. +370 682 45427, e-mail retispaudiniai@mab.lt;
Old Periodicals Reading Room: +370 686 15798, e-mail senoji.periodika@mab.lt;
Manuscripts Reading Room: tel. +370 686 85346, el. p. rankrasciai@mab.lt;

We are very sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.

The holdings of the Rare Book Department consist of about 460 thousand items (of which about 360 thousand are movable cultural property): 

  • Books published pre-1800;
  • Bibliographic and book art rarities; 
  • Books in Lithuanian published pre-1918 in Lithuania, books published pre-1945 in other countries; 
  • Significant Lituanica publications published in 1800–1944;
  • Lithuanian and Lituanica 19th-20th century periodicals (published pre-1945);
  • Periodicals  published pre-1800; 
  • Lithuanian emigree periodicals;
  • Art reproduction albums; 
  • Visual documents (engravings, postcards, photographs);
  • Ephemera (proclamations, edicts, etc.);
  • Cartographic publications;
  • Selected publications from the second half of the 20th century – 21st century (notable for autographs of prominent individuals, small print run, outstanding art or design, particular historiographic significance, etc.).
  • Historical collection of artworks,
  • Cuneiform collection.

The holdings include over 200 unique print documents, six of which are included in the   UNESCO “Memory of the World” national register. 

Some collections have been digitized. The digital images of the documents are available in the Digital Archive.

Information about documents from the holdings the Rare Books Department may also be found here:  Special Collections, Konstantinas Jablonskis’ Collection, Marija Gimbutas’ Collection.

Searching for items held by the Department may also be conducted using the following resources:

  1. Card catalogues located in the Tadeusz Wroblewski Reading Room and the Old Periodicals Reading Room;
  2. The Library’s Alphabet and Subject Catalogues (the part pertaining to the Department’s collections);
  3. Published catalogues:
    1. Lietuvos TSR Mokslų akademijos Centrinės bibliotekos atlasų ir žemėlapių katalogas = Каталог атласов и карт Центральной библиотеки Академии наук Литовской ССР  / compiled by K. Čepienė. – Vilnius, 1969.
    2. XVI–XVII a. lituanika Lietuvos mokslų akademijos bibliotekoje = Lithuanica saeculi sexti ex Bibliotheca Academiae Scientiarum Lithuaniae : katalogas / compiled by: D. Narbutienė, V. Radvilienė, D. Rauckytė-Bikauskienė. – Vilnius, 2007.
    3. Arte et Marte : senieji dokumentai karo tema : skirta Žalgirio mūšio 600-osioms metinėms : parodos katalogas, 2010 liepos 7 – rugpjūčio 3 d.  / [exhibition prepared and catalogue compiled by: Danguolė Palačionytė ir Violeta Radvilienė]. – Vilnius, 2010.
  4. Virtual Tales; 
  5. Old website of the Library;
  6. Video recordings made by the Department’s staff members, the streaming platform “Spotify”. 

Information concerning documents held by the Rare Books Department is provided by e-mail: retispaudiniai@mab.lt and senoji.periodika@mab.lt