This year, the collections of the Francis Skaryna Library have been enriched with a rare edition — the work of Father Stanisław Bonifacy Jundziłł, Zoologia krótko zebrana. Część druga. Ptastwo (“A Brief Compendium of Zoology. Part Two: Birds”), published in 1825 — exactly two hundred years ago.
This is one of the earliest systematic works on the ornithology of Belarus and Lithuania, based on observations of wildlife in the territories of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Jundziłł, a native of the Lida region and a monk of the Piarist order, lectured at Vilnius University, directed the Vilnius Botanical Garden, and was among the most authoritative naturalists of his time. In this book, he carefully describes local bird species — their appearance, behaviour, nesting sites, and their benefits and harm to humans.
For us, this edition is of particular value, as it reflects the state of knowledge about the fauna of our region at the beginning of the 19th century and stands as an important monument to the Vilnius scientific tradition.
