Kyiv customs officers prevented the illegal export of a rare 18th-century Latin-language book abroad and transferred it to the Odesa National Scientific Library — Ukraine's oldest public library, where the publication will be available to researchers and scholars. This was reported by the State Customs Service of Ukraine, writes UNN.
Kyiv customs officers handed over an ancient 18th-century Latin-language book, saved from illegal export abroad, to the Odesa National Scientific Library — Ukraine's oldest public library, founded in 1829. The publication was attempted to be sent by mail to Ireland without proper permits.
It is noted that this is the second volume of the Latin-language work by the German naturalist Johann Georg Gmelin, published in 1749. The images in the book are embossed engravings. The text of the publication is a typical academic description, characteristic of German natural philosophical publications of the European Enlightenment.
Experts suggest that the research of the naturalist, physician, botanist, ethnographer, and traveler Johann Gmelin must have been well known to representatives of the Ukrainian Cossack старшина (senior officers), who had an extensive "networking" in St. Petersburg, and formed the intellectual image of the Russian Empire as a whole. Among other things, Gmelin is also known as an unbiased critic of Russian imperial orders and culture in general.
Iryna Biriukova, Director General of the Odesa National Scientific Library, emphasized: "Our library, to whose collections Johann Gmelin's book has been transferred, has accumulated more than 5.5 million documents over its almost 200 years of existence, most of which are rare and unique, published in 131 languages of the world. Now another gem will be added to our collection."
After being seized by customs officers and relevant court decisions, the book became state property and will now be stored in library collections, where it will be available to researchers and scholars.