Facsimile editions of Taras Shevchenko's first «Kobzar» in the collections of the National historical and ethnographic reserve «Pereiaslav»

Abstract

In this scientific study, we defined the concept of «acsimile edition», reviewed the main reprints of Taras Shevchenko's first «Kobzar» from 1840, analyzes the specified books in the collections of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve «Pereiaslav», determining their number, year of publication, and history of acquisition by the reserve.

The article uses historical-biographical, cultural-historical, philological, textual, source-based, and analytical research methods.

The study notes that a facsimile edition is a secondary polygraphic product that reproduces the original with the highest degree of similarity.

It has been established that the facsimile edition of the first «Kobzar» of 1840 was published on the 100th anniversary of the poet's birth at the expense of the Taras Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lviv using phototype printing.

In 1962, on the 150th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko's birth, the publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR carried out a phototype reprint (115 pages) of the same 1840 edition. Another facsimile edition of the 1840 «Kobzar» was published in 1974 by the Dnipro publishing house from the original, which is kept at the Taras Shevchenko Institute of Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The research has shown that the registers of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve «Pereiaslav» contain two facsimile editions of Taras Shevchenko's «Kobzar» from 1840, which were published in 1962 by various printing houses.

Thus, after analyzing copies of facsimile editions of Taras Shevchenko's first «Kobzar» from 1840, we can conclude that the most famous of them are the books from 1914, 1962, and 1974. The research has shown that in 2000, a rather unique facsimile edition was published: with a modern reproduction of the texts. It is clear that the rarest of these copies is the 1914 edition, which is often mistakenly presented as the original.

In the collections of the Pereiaslav National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve, we find two facsimile editions of Taras Shevchenko's «Kobzar» from 1840. This is the 1962 edition. They are similar in content, structure, and number of copies, and were even signed for printing on the same day –  November 27, 1962 – but at different printing houses. Their bindings also differ in color: the first is gray with the inscription «T. H. SHEVCHENKO. KOBZAR. Phototype of an uncensored copy of the 1840 edition, «the second is white with the inscription «KOBZAR. T. H. SHEVCHENKO. 1840».This version has a paper cover for a dark blue binding and a drawing with the inscription «1840». Such covers are mostly found on gift editions. The two analyzed copies of the books were donated to Pereiaslav National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve by private individuals in the XXI century.