MOTIEJAUS VALANČIAUS ŽYVATŲ ŠVENTŲJŲ ANTROJOJE DALYJE (1864) SURAŠYTAS PALAIMINTOJO JUOZAPATO GYVENIMAS.

In the history of Lithuanian culture and literature, the didactic prose of the Samogitian Bishop Motiejus Vaalančius (1801-1875, bish. 1850-1875) - the dominant figure of the religious, public and cultural life in the mid-19th century Lithuania - is rightly considered to be both pioneering and instrumental in the formation of Lithuanian fiction. As is the case in a number of other writing genres, Motiejus Valančius is thought to be the pioneer of hagiographic literature in Lithuanian language (which began to be written and translated during the mid-19th century). Thereby the hagiographic works of Valančius are distinguished in their role as a bridging element between early didactic and fictional Lithuanian literature. It was hitherto known that Motiejus Valančius had written and published two hagiographic works - Žyvatai šventųjų (The Lives of the Saints, 1858) and Gyvenimai šventųjų Dievo (The Lives of the Saints of God, 1868) - pioneering works and representatives of Lithuanian hagiographic literature which are characterised by their original style. However, the corpus of Lithuanian hagiographic literature has been recently complemented by two so far unknown manuscript works - The Life of the Saints Part II (Žyvatai šventųjų, d. II, 1864) and The Works of the Saints (Darbai šventųjų, 1874-1875), and a copy of the latter. The manuscript of The Life of the Saints Part II - is not a copy made by Motiejus Valančius' hand, it is a fair copy prepared for the press; the manuscript of The Works of the Saints - bears the autograph of Motiejus Valančius; while the copy of The Works of the Saints is a fair copy prepared for the press not by Motiejus Valančius' hand. Moreover, the history of the texts and manuscripts are affected by the social-political circumstances of the time. The new hagiographic works significantly complement the earliest corpus of Lithuanian hagiographic literature, enrich the creative biography of the author and extend the history of Lithuanian literature, particularly the period of literary fiction's appearance. Valančius' manuscript of The Life of the Saints Part II has not yet been recorded or researched in the historiography of Lithuanian literature related to Valančius and the lives of the saints described by him. The article presents the manuscript of The Life of the Saints Part II; the results of research carried out on its history are presented: its dating, spiritual approbation, censorship, information about the manuscript, owners of the manuscript, and its place of storage are presented. A description of the manuscript is also presented: its signature, format, binding, sheets, flyleaves, pagination, paper, inscriptions and corrections are presented. As can be seen from the text itself and from other inscriptions in this manuscript, Motiejus Valančius had The Life of the Saints Part II completely prepared for the press - a copy of the text was made by a so far unknown person, i.e. the fair copy that was intended for publishing. Valančius himself re-read the manuscript and made minimal corrections to it. The manuscript was given to publisher Adam Zawadzki; later on it appeared in the possession of Viktoras Julijonas Aramavičius, a member of Vilnius Censorship committee. The censor did not censor the manuscript nor read it carefully, as it does not contain an aprobatum inscribed by the censor or other marks characteristic of censored manuscripts. Although the censor, following the policy of the spread of Orthodoxy and the instructions of tsarist censorship (and negative attitudes towards the Uniates), removed the life of the Blessed Josaphat of Polotsk (Josaphat Kuntsevych, 1580-1623). Perhaps it was because of the removal of this part of the text that the manuscript was returned to its author. Motiejus Valančius did not make any corrections to the text; in the later selections of the lives of saints he did not include the description of the Blessed Josaphat's life. This publication presents an account from the lives of saints - the life of the Blessed Josaphat of Polotsk which relates to the other texts devoted to this Blessed in this volume of Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]