Dictionary of the Orawa Dialect

 Słownik gwary orawskiej (2011)

Słownik gwary orawskiej = Dictionary of the Orawa Dialect was edited and compiled by linguist, Jósef Kąś. The two-volume set published by Księgarnia Akademicka (Krakow, 2011), contains words used in the Orawa dialect in Poland, whose region borders Slovakia. The Polish Orawa and Slovak Orava (Slovak) regions  border each other, with  Kąś's dictionary focusing on the Polish portion of this geographical area. With over 35,000 words, this second revised edition contains nearly 7,000 additional words from the original 2003 edition.

This unique reference source is available in the Elizabeth Dafoe Library's Slavic Collection, under the call number: Slav Ref PG 6790 K35 2011

Prague in Old Picture Postcards

Praha na dobových pohlednicích, 1886-1930 = Prague in Old Picture Postcards, 1886-1939 conatins hundreds of photographs focusing on the old districts of the the capital city of the Czech Republic, Prague, including: Old Town, New Town, and the Jewish Town. Published in 1998 to commemorate the 650th anniversary of the founding of Prague, it covers the period when the city was under Habsburg rule, to the early years of independent Czechoslovakia. The book is edited by Edmund Orián, and published by Belle Epoque. A Czech and English version of the book were published, with the Slavic Collection holding only the Czech one.

The book is available to view in the Elizabeth Dafoe Library's Slavic Collection's Reference area, under call #:  Salv Ref DB 2620 P728 1998

Ukrainian source for genealogical research

Cover of the volume of Istoriia mist i sil URSR, devoted to the 

Ternopil oblast (Ukr.: Ternopil's'ka oblast')

 Map of the Ternopil oblast' found within the above mentioned volume.

Between 1967-1974, the Institute of History for the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian S.S.R. (today, the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) published a series of volumes, titled, Istoriia mist i sil URSR (The History of the Cities and Towns of the Ukrainian S.S.R) each one, devoted to an individual Ukrainian oblast (province or administrative unit). Within each volume, there is a detailed look at each of the oblast's various districts, or raions, with accompanying maps of each of these districts. For genealogists, this is truly a great resource for locating small villages, that may not usually appear on ordinary commercial maps. In addition, one will find write-ups on the history of each city, town and village located within that particular oblast'. Although each volume contains the Soviet-slant on Ukrainian history, it is still a great source  to obtain information about, say for example, --when a particular town was founded; what are some noteworthy events that took place over the centuries in the town and its surrounding areas; and what important buildings and landmarks exist in a district. It would be nice to see an updated version of this set of volumes in present-day, independent Ukraine. Perhaps such a project is currently underway -- one can only hope...

Istoriia mist i sil URSR, is located in the Slavic Collection's Reference section under the call number, Slav DK 511 I7.

Ukraina - kozats'ka derzhava = Ukraine - a Kozak (Cossack) State

Ukraina kozats'ka derzhava (2007) is considered to be one of the best-known books to be published in Ukraine in recent memory. Consisting of 1215 pages devoted to the history of the Ukrainian kozaky, from the years 1500-1918 (accompanied by over 5,100 illustrations). This extensive and beautifully illustrated volume is edited by Volodymyr Nediak, and contains articles and photographs of famous individual kozaky, battles, artifacts, paintings and architecture. Published in Kyiv, Ukraine, in limited print.

Ukraina kozats'ka derzhava is held in the Rare Book Room of the University of Manitoba, Archives & Special Collection (330 Elizabeth Dafoe Library). Call# Slav RBR DK 508.55 N43 2007.

History of Modern Russian and Ukrainian Art, 1907-1930 Microfiche Collection

Teatral’noi stroi (A.H. Petryts'kyi) . Kharkiv, 1929

The History of Modern Russian and Ukrainian Art, 1907-1930, is a collection of 106 rare books and serials spanning the years 1907-1930, -- reproduced on microfiche by IDC Publishers in the Netherlands. The collection consists of monographs, critical literature, and art periodicals. Included in the collection are early twentieth century art journals such as Tvorchestvo(Creation), Radians’ke mystestvo (Soviet Art), and Rabis (Art Workers). The collection contains written articles of such notable artists as, Wassily Kadinsky, Pavel Filonov, Kazimir Malevich and Anatolii Petrytsky, -- as well as books by well-known art critics such as Iakov Tugendkhol’d, Erikh Gollerback and Nikolai Punin.

Ukraine, Russia and the other republics of the former USSR underwent a national re-awakening of their languages, literatures, and cultures during the 1920s. The theatre, the fine arts, and the various literary movements looked westward to developing their crafts, -- as a result new publications expounding this new experimental era began being published. Many of the publications produced were often of short print runs, making them scarce from the moment they become available to its readers. With the introduction of Socialist Realism as the only acceptable form of art beginning in the early 1930s, those publications focusing on modernism and the avant-garde were banned, and removed from museums and libraries.

This collection is available to faculty, students and researchers on the main floor of the Elizabeth Dafoe Library’s Microforms area (Call number: N 6988 H57 2000 MFiche Box 1-4). For further assistance, please contact the staff of the Slavic Collection.