THE SMALLEST BOOKS IN THE WORLD IN BELGRADE
On November 26th, 2017. famous Serbian writer for children Ljubivoje Ršumović, one of the founders and a member of the Adligat board of directors, donated to Book and Travel Museum a collection of miniature books that his late wife, Nataša Ršumović, collected for years.
With the collection that the museum already beholds, one of the largest such specialized collections in Europe has been formed, a true miniature ‘miniature book museum’ with more than 3,500 tiny publications, which is named “Collection of miniature books Nataša Ršumović”.
The iconic writer, Ljubivoje Ršumović, came personally, with his son, famous director and scriptwriter Vuk Ršumović and his wife Ana, to place books on the bookshelves. Those bookshelves are also unique, handmade accordingly to the size and form of books.
In this collection there is also one of the smallest printed books in the world, three and a half millimeters in size, published by the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz.
On this occasion, Ljubivoje Ršumović handed over an incredible gift to the president of Adligat, Viktor Lazić: two copies of his book “News from the Swoon”, which was printed on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of Ršum’s work in 1988.
However, the second copy, instead of the printed pages, contains writer’s manuscript! More than one hundred sixty printed pages of the book have been transcribed by the great poet to more than two hundred pages written by his own hand in honor of Adligat and Viktor Lazić, who is, according to Ršum’s dedication note, “the true winner in the hard battle for the defense of the book!“. Ršum’s manuscript was illustrated by his grandchildren, Vid and Nadja.
On this occasion, Viktor Lazić said: “I asked Ršum to write by his own hand for Adligat his poem “Ten angry pirates”. This is without doubt one of the most beautiful poems of Serbian poetry for children, but also one of my personally favorite works of art, which my parents read almost every night before my sleep when I was a kid. However, the effort that Ršum invested in writing these two hundred and some pages of the book that begins with this poem, does not only speak of our relationship and his dedication to the Adligat project, but also of the character of this amazing poet in the best possible light. Great Ršum worked with dedication for three months on this miracle, which will now be part of the permanent exhibition of our museum.
We now have one more answer to the frequently asked question by the visitors: “What books are the dearest to the heart of us working in Adligat and creating its museums?” I will remember the day when Ršum handed me over this present, dedicated to me, but for the Museum, for the rest of my life. For sure, I will retell stories about this day, as one of the happiest days of my life, to my children and grandchildren.”