And Yet They Read Them - Banned Books in the Early Modern Age

June 21st - September 15th 2018

During all periods, individuals and communities communicating their knowledge, findings, ideas, principles and visions encountered forces that wanted to control, direct and limit the flow of knowledge and ideas through various pressures: they demanded changes in texts, confiscated and burned books, and in some cases also convicted, extradited and executed the authors of books.

The Earth was still revolving around the Sun irrespective of Galileo’s forced denial of heliocentric theory. Irrespective of various rigorous censorship policies and lists of illicit literature, readers had always found the way to disputed books – the proof is a large number of formerly banned titles stored in NUK.

In the framework of the research project "Banned Books in Slovenian Lands in the Early Modern Age", the exhibition prepared by the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU )and NUK will present the background, structure, meaning and history of the Pope Index and other censorship lists. On view will be selected works from the National and University Library collection, in the past marked as religiously, morally or politically controversial, therefore put on the censorship lists.

Authors that significantly marked philosophical and political thought and literary landscape of the Early Modern Age will be presented, as well as some less known authors from the 14th until the end of the 18th century. Various ownership marks and notes of former owners, preserved in displayed copies will present interesting routes of specific books through space and time.