Ieva Rusteikaitė (Vilnius University Library / Vilnius Academy of Arts
In the early modern period, the rapid growth of print runs and an increasing literacy had a significant impact on both the principles of book distribution and the various arts and crafts associated with book production. The transformation of one of these aspects, bookbinding, into an organised urban craft can be traced back to the social and economic changes brought about by the invention of the printing press in the second half of the 15th century, which encouraged European craftsmen to establish the first bookbinding workshops. As the printing press spread in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th century with Vilnius becoming an important regional printing centre, the earliest known records of bookbinding activity in Vilnius trace back to the beginning of the 16th century.
By proposing to look at some of the poorly researched bindings of books printed in Vilnius, this paper reveals their potential as material sources for accumulating knowledge both about the principles of craftsmanship and the circumstances of circulation, use and reading of specific printed materials. Assuming that certain books printed in Vilnius may have been bound in the city, the presentation focuses on local prints bound in the second half of the 16th century. With a particular focus on technological aspects, such as the form, function and style of the items in question, the presentation attempts to reconstruct, even if only in fragments, a picture of the local craft tradition and to reveal the needs of the readers and customers of the time