New arrivals about the Russo-Ukrainian war : the March 2023 Slavonic items of the month

Among a good number of new Ukrainian books that arrived in March are of course many about the Russian war against Ukraine taking place since 2014 which then intensified appallingly with the full-scale invasion launched in February 2022. Continue reading

Early diaspora Shevchenko editions in the University Library

Today is Taras Shevchenko’s 209th birthday.  In his fairly short life (he died one day after his 47th birthday), Shevchenko revolutionised Ukrainian literature and language and art.  Our oldest Shevchenko holding is the 4-volume set of his works, published in L’viv between 1893 and 1898.

As Dr Rory Finnin of Cambridge Ukrainian Studies described in his Liberation lecture in November (full recording here), Shevchenko’s importance to Ukrainians domestically and further afield cannot and could never be overstated.  Thanks to donations made to the UL over the last 12 years, we have a rich collection of émigré Ukrainian books dating in particular from post-WW2 migrant communities.  Here are the earliest 1945- Ukrainophone Shevchenko editions from South America, North America, and Western Europe: Continue reading

New Ukrainian art books : the February Slavonic items of the month

This brief post looks at a couple of welcome donations of books about Ukrainian art.

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Marking the 24 February anniversary in Cambridge libraries

In preparation for today, the anniversary of Putin’s terrible full-scale invasion of Ukraine, librarians around Collegiate Cambridge have been promoting material about Ukraine.  This post looks at some examples.

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