By Bejay Browne.
A number of books from the 1600s have been rediscovered at the Paphos municipal library and will now be preserved and digitised, according to the town’s mayor.
Pedonas Phedonos announced the discovery on a social media post, along with photos of two books in particular dating from 1652 and 1687 respectively.
“These books will be preserved and digitised,” he announced.
The first, The history of the war of Cyprus was originally written in Latin, and covers the ‘Cyprian War, 1570-1571,’ according to its title page. It was printed in 1687 by J. Rawlins, and is written by Antonio Maria Graziani, Robert Midgley, Stefano Lusignano and sold by Randal Taylor in London in 1687.
The second is titled ‘The History of Venice’ originally written in Latin by Paola Paruta, printed in London in 1658 and translated into English by Henry, Earl of Monmouth.
Answering a comment on his Facebook post Phedonos said that: “The books were not found. But they did exist, and it is time for those who destroyed them to be held accountable. It’s not easy, as some (books) have been in boxes for 50 to 60 years. But even so, proper work will be done.
It was not clear how the books came into the possession of the municipal library which is housed in a fine neoclassical building in Paphos and has recently undergone renovation.
It was founded in 1946, by the then Mayor of Paphos (1943-1953) Christodoulos Galatopoulos and a decision taken by the municipal council of Paphos in 2002 decided to name it after him.
The facility opened its doors to the public as a lending library in May 1946 and hosted many cultural events. The library operated for decades but gradually fell into decline. More recently, the local council decided to renovate and upgrade it ahead of Paphos winning the title as the European Capital of Culture for 2017.
In 2015 the implementation of the agreement between the municipality and the Cyprus Association of Librarians and Information Scientists aimed at renovating and modernising the library got underway.
Today, the library holds around 26,000 volumes, including rare editions and historical documents, which are valuable material for researchers and scholars and aspires to be a ‘home of cultural and intellectual life in the city of Paphos and the wider district’, the municipality said.
