Armenian books on display at Harvard University library

An exhibit of Armenian books, that opened at Harvard University’s Lamont Library on Monday, April 9, according to the Armenian Mirror Spectator.

The initiative has justifiably satisfied Professor of Armenian Studies James R. Russell who oversaw the details of the exhibit.

“We started planning this about a year ago. Our core group included Marc Mamigonian from NAASR [National Association of Armenian Research and Studies], Barbara Merguerian from ALMA [the Armenian Library and Museum of America] and Michael Grossman from Widener Library. Grossman is chief cataloguer for Armenian and Georgian books. We didn’t have a designer but Mark,” he said.


McKertich and Todd Pattison, who is in charge of conservation for the entire Harvard library system, organized the space and set up the exhibit.”


Russell said he was moved to mount the exhibit out of the knowledge that few Harvard students know very much about Armenian history and culture.


“Harvard is a place where students come to study large things in the world. Most Armenian students here are involved in that endeavor. Few people are interested in language and history and I wanted to undertake this exhibit to display the scope of Armenian culture and history,” he added.

The exhibit itself is mounted on the third floor of Lamont Library and consists of two horizontal cases of books, periodicals and scrolls and one large vertical glass case that contains a copy of Russell’s text, “The Armenians and the Book,” and additional materials.


The display contains a range of materials ranging from the ancient and precious to the more modern. The exhibits include, among other things, a facsimile of the Friday Book, the first text to be actually printed in Armenian in 1512 by the Mekhitarist monks in Venice. There are also tiny, delicate, intricately-illustrated books of Aesop’s fables, a copy of the first edition of Hairenik, texts by the poet Yeghishe Charents and more contemporary works such as the novels of William Saroyan and the new edition of The Forty Days of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel. There are also magical scrolls with the explanatory text written and illustrated by Russell.
The contents of the exhibit have come from a number of different sources including NAASR, ALMA, Widener Library and Russell’s private collection. Funds were provided by the Mashtots chair, Tufts University, Boston University, NAASR, ALMA and the Armenian Cultural Foundation (ACF).


“This is the 500th anniversary of the start of Armenian printing, so this seemed the right moment to put this exhibit up,” said Russell.