Catalog To Be Issued For Armenian Exhibit At U.S. Congress Library

CATALOG TO BE ISSUED FOR ARMENIAN EXHIBIT AT U.S. CONGRESS LIBRARY

PanARMENIAN.Net
January 16, 2012 – 11:58 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Dr. Levon Avdoyan unveiled the large trove of
Armenian treasures in the Library of Congress where he serves as
Specialist of the Armenian and Georgian areas.

Entitled “To Know Wisdom and Instruction”, his fascinating talk
covered 500 years of Armenian printing, and a history of the Armenian
collection at the Library of Congress. Starting on April 19, 2012,
an exhibition of the collection of Armenian manuscripts and printed
books will be open to the public for five months, Massis Post reports.

He is also preparing an exhibition catalog which will be published
in time for the opening of the exhibition. The Library of Congress
is the largest library in the world, and the Armenian collections
have now become a major source for Armenian studies and research.

The first massive collection of Armenian works at the Library of
Congress took place in the late 19th century. It continued with
“dribs and drabs” until 1948, when the “Committee for the Armenian
Collection” created by Arthur H. Dadian and including the legendary
scholar Dr. Sirarpie der Nercessian, it grew from some 250 to 6000
items in the Armenian language collection. By 1992, when Dr. Avdoyan
was appointed Armenian Specialist, the collection had grown to 7000
items. “Today,” he said, “there are estimated to be from 40,000 to
45,000 Armenian works.”