On April 15, at the Museum of Printing, the presentation of the pictorial book "Treasures of the National Library of Armenia: Rare Book" took place. The pictorial volume is dedicated to the 105th anniversary of the National Library of Armenia’s acquisition of state status and features bibliographic descriptions and magnificent color photographs of 592 items from the Library’s rare book collection (1512–1800).

The book was published in 2024 by Girk Publishing House with the support of a grant from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia. It was compiled by Alisa Adamyan and Ruzanna Egoryan. The annotations were written by Haykanush Ghazaryan, Deputy Director of the National Library of Armenia for Scientific Affairs. The translation was carried out by Julia Aghabekyan and Ida Margarova, staff members of the Library’s External Relations Department. The photographs were taken by Artyom Hakobyan and Mesrop Mesropyan from the Library’s Public Relations Department. The book’s design is by Mkrtich Matevosyan.

At the presentation, the opening remarks and welcome were delivered by the pictorial book’s editor-in-chief, Director of the National Library of Armenia, Anna Chulyan. “I would like to speak about the tremendous amount of work accomplished over the course of a year by the book’s team of authors, and to express my gratitude to everyone,” she said.

This publication is unique in that, for the first time, it presents bibliographic descriptions of 592 rare editions (books, periodicals, maps, amulets) held by the library in both Armenian and English. This holds great significance for the accurate and comprehensive representation of Armenian books on various international platforms. “Congratulations to all of us for this important work. I hope the publication will continue. It is a wonderful gift not only to the scholarly community but also to every reader. We are a people of the book; for us, the book is a visible chrism. If we are connected to the book, our life is inevitably blessed,” said Zakaria Tsayragyum Vardapet Baghumyan, the scientific editor of the book.

Alisa Adamyan, Head of the Rare Literature Department, noted in her speech: “We should fondly remember the late bibliographers who compiled the bibliographies of Armenian printed books until now. These have been our textbooks at the table. We continue to benefit from their work almost every day.”

Armenian studies scholar, bibliographer, and translator Mihran Minasyan also spoke about the significance of Treasures of the National Library of Armenia: Rare Book. “One of the important features of this pictorial book is that the bibliographic descriptions and annotations are accompanied by physical images of the books, allowing readers to trace the development of Armenian book art — including printing techniques, design and illustration arts, and artistic characteristics. The Armenian printing tradition is not merely a historical value but a living culture that contributes to world literature and science.”