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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė

@mildakviz.bsky.social

180 followers 140 following 83 posts

Early modern travel historian researching rare books at the National Library of Lithuania and curating rare books and manuscripts at the National Museum of Lithuania. Basically, if it’s old, bound, and mysterious, I’m probably digging into it.

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Mar 4

📢 Call for Papers! Join us at Acutus et Argutus: Early Modern Print Culture in Motion 📚✨ Dive into the dynamic world of book history and print culture. Submit your proposals by 30 April 2025. More info: konferencijos.lnb.lt/acutus-et-ar...

#CFP #AcademicConference #EarlyModernStudies

A dark blue conference banner with ornate Baroque-style floral patterns in vibrant teal, orange, and white hues. The text reads: ACUTUS ET ARGUTUS: Early Modern Print Culture in Motion, scheduled for 8–10 October 2025 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Logos of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania and the National Museum of Lithuania are displayed at the bottom.

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · 1d

Acutus et argutus has begun! Why to type something easily, when you can do labirynths, roses. Should my next paper look like that? 🫢

Slide with a piesia artificial example – text written in a trumpet

Reposted by Milda Kvizikevičiūtė

Suzanne Karr Schmidt @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social · Sep 6

Love... Or Death?

#Plague or #TooPerilous
3/3

Canoodling couple seated by tree, crossed out!

Bodies (sick, not in flagrante delicto) on floor, crossed out with great enthusiasm.

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Reposted by Milda Kvizikevičiūtė

Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · Sep 3

Believe it or not, this is a parish register from the seventeenth century that was damaged during a fire! 🔥

Heat causes the collagen fibres in the parchment to denature and shrink and eventually turn to gelatine, which sometimes has a ‘glassy’ appearance.

#EarlyModern #Skystorians

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Aug 23

#BalticWay was a call for #freedom! On August 23, 1989, 2 million people joined hands across #Lithuania, #Latvia, and #Estonia to mark the 50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, when the USSR and Nazi Germany secretly divided Europe into spheres of influence.

lithuania.lt/news/life-an...

The Baltic Way: How Holding Hands Changed History | Lithuania

On August 23, 1989, a momentous event unfolded that would forever leave its mark on history. Two million people joined hands, creating an unbroken human chain that spanned over 600 kilometres, linking...

lithuania.lt

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Aug 22

All sorts of activities happeningnin this teeny tiny vignette.

#oldbooks #rarebooks #fishing #swimming #bridges #NationalLibraryOfLithuania

Illustration of a stone bridge with two arches. A small figure walks across the bridge, carrying a stick. Below, people fish on the riverside. On the right side stands a tower and trees; on the left, hills and another tree. The scene is framed within an oval border.

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Aug 21

Annotation? No thanks, I’ll draw my feelings instead.
What mood would you doodle today?

#rarebooks #earlymodernbook #NationalLibraryOfLithuania #doodle

A printed Latin text with a large decorated initial “Q.” The letter has been doodled into a cartoonish face, with eyes, eyebrows, nose, and a frowning mouth. Above the “Q,” extra pen strokes make it look like the figure is wearing a hat.

A printed Latin text with a large initial “V.” Inside the letter, someone has drawn a small face with eyes, nose, and mouth.

A printed Latin text with a large initial “Q.” The circular part of the letter has been filled with a face: two dark eyes, a large shaded nose, and a serious mouth with a moustache-like line, making the letter resemble a stern human head.

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Jul 30

The book doesn’t contain any marginalia, so my assumption is that the mark may have been left by the printer.

Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Jul 30

A little bit of a personal touch left behind.

De censuris Ecclesiasticis tractatus. Leiden, 1608 #NationalLibraryOfLithuanis
#earlymodern #printculture

A close-up photo of an old book page numbered 267, showing Latin text printed in black ink. In the upper right margin, there is a visible black fingerprint smudge, suggesting someone with ink-stained fingers touched the page. The paper has a rough texture and slightly browned edges.

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Jun 15

That one person in the pool 🔫💦

@Kunsthistoriches Museum Vienna

#earlymodern #printculture

A detailed black-and-white woodcut print showing a crowded public bath scene. Numerous nude and semi-nude figures, both male and female, are seen bathing, washing, socializing, and lounging around an elaborate fountain and classical-style architectural structure with columns. Some figures are scrubbing themselves or each other, while others are engaged in conversation or relaxation.

Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Jun 13

Yes, it looks like it was a grave.

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Jun 13

Main text: Лета 7083 [1575] поставили крест Береза да Федор [or Федос] Павлов сын Моло — подписал [O]рлишко

This is what’s written in the ends of the cross: ЦАРЬ СЛАВЫ / ИСУСЪ ХРИСТОС / НИ/КА

I will not be attempting to translate it, as quality would be the same as with google translate :)

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Reposted by Milda Kvizikevičiūtė

Allie Alvis 🌷 @book-historia.bsky.social · Jun 10

This is DAMN good BibComm 🔥

Buckinghamshire Archives @bucksarchives.bsky.social · Jun 10

Welcome to the archives.

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Jun 5

To open an exhibition is a celebration in itself. But to have a President Dalia Grybauskaitė as a patron of exhibition and give her a personal guided tour is huge honor!

Queens, Realms and Emotions open till 4 January, 2025. #NationalMuseumOfLithuania, House of Histories
#Lithuania

In a vivid orange exhibition space, former President Dalia Grybauskaitė listens as Dr. Milda Kvizikevičiūtė (in a green patterned dress), one of the curators, presents a display table featuring ceramic reconstructions of historical dishes, biscuit moulds, vegetables, and a frying pan. The table is illustrated with recipes and foods once enjoyed by Renaissance queens Barbara Radziwiłł and Catherine Jagiellon. Nearby stand co-curators Dr. Vaida Ragėnaitė (in a violet dress) and Julija Janus (in pink stripes), along with Rūta Kačkutė (in a dark blue dress), general director of the National Museum of Lithuania. Exhibition cases with rare books and portraits are visible in the background.

Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · May 30

Falcon in its natural habitat.
🦅
It’s always nice to see exhibition come to life!

📖Les délices des la natura, Nürnberg, 1774
🪶Falco cherrug
🖼️ Tapestry with hunting scene

Quenns, Realms and Emotions from June 4th at the #NationalMuseumofLithuania

A museum exhibit featuring a taxidermied falcon perched on a branch inside a glass case. In front of it, another glass case displays an open illustrated book showing a detailed drawing of a falcon. In the background, a large, ornate tapestry depicts a vivid hunting scene with figures on horseback, dogs, and wild animals in a dense forest setting. The display highlights the cultural and symbolic role of falcons in historical hunting traditions.

Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · May 25

What a week! #REFORC2025 has ended, and it was a blast. I had the opportunity to discuss a Lithuanian text published in London to raise aid for Reformed churches in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania devastated by the Deluge.
#NationalMuseumOfLithuania #rarebooks #specialcollections
@reforc.bsky.social

A speaker presenting at an academic conference.

Title page of a book: A Relation of the Distressed Statė of the Church of Christ processing the Protestant Religiom in the Great Dukedom of Lithuania.

Title page of a book by Samual Clarke. A Generał Martyrologię, published in London, 1677

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · May 23

Accesibility done right at the academic conference!
#Reforc2025

The left screen features a sign language interpreter against a blue background, providing live interpretation. The right screen displays a presentation slide titled “Renouncing Erasmus? Reading…” with images of historical figures

Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · May 22

Three books. Three bullets.
These volumes—once part of a peaceful library—were struck and torn apart by gunfire in #Vienna in 1940s.
A haunting reminder of how even cultural heritage aren’t spared from violence.
#WienMuseum

A stack of three old books with visibly damaged spines and covers, pierced by a bullet. The leather bindings are torn, and some pages are shredded and charred.

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · May 21

National Library of Viena, is that a new encryption method?! Can someone crack the code?

Anyway, a solid warp-up for #reforc2025

@reforc.bsky.social

A tall wooden bookshelf filled with ornate, gold-tooled leather-bound books inside the National Library of Austria. Some books are laid on their bookbloks, exposing the red block sides.

Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · May 7

Meeting of Lithuanian special collections curators: discussing security in the face of geopolitics, crises, and thefts. How can we protect our heritage while staying as open and accessible as possible? #CulturalHeritage #security #Lithuania #specialcollections

A group of people sits in a historic Vilnius Universtity library room with an ornate vaulted ceiling decorated in blue and gray floral patterns.

Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · May 2

The #CFP has been extended! You can still submit your proposals for the conference until May 15. Perhaps you’ll help us uncover just how much wit and sharpness it took to write, publish, illustrate, or collect books.

More: konferencijos.lnb.lt/acutus-et-ar...

Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Apr 11

F G D - some of the ornamental letters from Apoftemmi di Plutarcho (Venezia, 1566). It always fascinates me, what was the creative process while making them.

#NationalMuseumOfLithuania #earlymodern #rarebooks

Ornamental initial “F” from an early printed book, depicting a dramatic scene of a woman fleeing while being chased by a male figure in a landscape setting

Engraved initial “G” from an early printed book, featuring a seated or crouching figure wearing a hat, pushing a cart filled with plants.

Engraved initial “D” from an early printed book, featuring a putto seated on a dolphin, holding a violin in left hand.

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Reposted by Milda Kvizikevičiūtė

Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · Dec 5

Knee protection in 1511. 🦁

Detail des Probedrucksvon Hans Burgkmair d.Ä., um 1511, gezeigt wird Hektor. Staats- und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg, Graph Burgkmair 6, Blatt 26r.

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Reposted by Milda Kvizikevičiūtė

Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · Sep 23

It is actually a funny story, we were just playing cards, and suddenly it started to rain, and then, bloody hell, a devil appeared...

_____

Say hello to an #earlymodern news pamphlet with a strange story that needed to be sung: www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/details/b...

#NewsHistory it is.

Detail from a printed image of a German news pamphlet from 1620 shwoing two men playing cards at a table, and one man with a devil standing next by. Source: https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/details/bsb10925611

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Reposted by Milda Kvizikevičiūtė

Dr. Liz Hebbard @lizhebbard.bsky.social · Apr 3

A perfect start to my time in Purdue University Archives and Special Collections: a little binding fragment!!! This strip of parchment comes from beautiful 12th-century missal with the Secreta visible on this line "Suscipe domine munera que pro filii tui" 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 #medievalsky #medievalmss

A strip of parchment visible in the back of a book binding with a line of text in Latin

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Milda Kvizikevičiūtė @mildakviz.bsky.social · Apr 4

When You want to ‘economize the text.’ So you do. Into curls, shadows, and powdered wigs.

The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, London,1717

#NationalMuseumOfLithuania #earlymodern #rarebooks #specialcollections

An ornate printed page featuring an engraved portrait of King George I composed entirely of tiny printed text forming his facial features, hair, and clothing. The circular border around the portrait reads: “THE EFFIGIES OF KING GEORGE CONTAINS THE LORD’S PRAYER, THE CREED AND THE X COMMANDMENTS, THE PRAYERS FOR THE KING AND THE ROYAL FAMILY, AND THE XXI PSALM.” Surrounding the border are cherubic faces. Below the portrait, large calligraphic text proclaims King George’s full royal titles in a highly decorative style with ruled red guidelines.

An engraved portrait of King George I composed entirely of tiny printed text forming his facial features, hair, and clothing. The circular border around the portrait reads: “THE EFFIGIES OF KING GEORGE CONTAINS THE LORD’S PRAYER, THE CREED AND THE X COMMANDMENTS, THE PRAYERS FOR THE KING AND THE ROYAL FAMILY, AND THE XXI PSALM.”

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