Talking about refined editions — in terms of contents and printing art — I am reminded of those small masterpieces produced by the Osnovy Publishers, even though most of them are not actually small; for some reason fundamental works by reputed authors tend to be quite sizable. Translated or written in Ukrainian, these books are examples of what a modern edition should look like. Another reason to compliment the publishing company is its 10th anniversary.
Osnovy was founded in December 1992 by a team of scholars and translators who saw their objective in sharing with the readers of a young national state world philosophic, legal, and economic treasures theretofore kept secret from them. In fact, people at Osnovy admit that their cherished dream was (and remains) the creation of a new Ukrainian intellectual type, a well-educated individual, versed in classical texts and modern problems, an active critic of conservative or dogmatic cultures... I believe that regular consumers of the “basic” texts are precisely that type. In ten years, Osnovy has published some 300 book titles: translations of works on history, culture, literary studies, sociology, economic theory, public administration... At present, the company cooperates with 30 counterparts in the West, including Oxford University Press, Columbia University press, Harvard University press, Random House, Editions Gallimard... The total circulation has reached a million copies.
The full name of the publishing company includes that of Solomiya Pavlychko, one of the greatest inspirers of the project. Among the company editions is a collection of works by this celebrated literary critic: Foreign Literature, Theory of Literature, Feminism, Nationalism. Sexuality. Orientalism. The Complex World of Ahatanhel Krymsky, and Letters from Kyiv. Their current motto is that of Mykhailo Zerov, amended: Ad Fontes, ad Libros, ad Osnovy! (To Sources, to Books, to Osnovy [Foundations]!) They were the first to prepare quality Ukrainian translations of fundamental works by Desiderius Erasmus, Claude Helvetius, John Locke, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Jean-Paul Sartre, Claude Levi-Strauss, Fouquet... The series “Translations from Classical Languages” offers Ukrainian versions of Plato’s Dialogues and State, Aristotle’s Politics, Cicero’s treatises, Seneca’s Epistulae morales... Osnovy has also published over 30 titles of authoritative textbooks on economics for higher schools and some 20 editions on public administration. A Ukrainian version of the British professor Norman Davis’s Europe. History (almost 1,500 pp.) became the literary event of 2000. That same year the book received the Grand Prix of the publishers’ forum in Lviv. (The previous year the forum proclaimed Osnovy Ukraine’s best publishing company.) A separate place is occupied by books of current Ukrainian theoreticians, including the most complete collection of works by M. Yevshan and L. Kurbas and R. Shporliuk’s “Communism and Nationalism.” A volume of Zerov’s works is being prepared for publication. Among the literary treasures released by the company is Travels to Sacred Places in the Orient, 1723-47 by Vasyl Hryhorovych-Barsky, Ukrainian writer, traveler, Orientalist, artist, graduate of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy who at 18 walked all the way from Kyiv to Jerusalem...
The anniversary festivities culminated in the ceremony of opening a book exhibit at the Vernadsky National Library, featuring all company editions. Greetings, flowers, and the smiling company manager Valentyna Kyrylova. The soiree gathered all of Kyiv publishing beau monde and book lovers, among them popular television hosts and hostesses, film and stage directors, and actors. Despite the large audience, the atmosphere was markedly chamber, refined, and cozy... Osnovy also took a most active part in the project “Give Chornukhy a Book as a Present!,” contributing over two thousand hryvnias’ worth of books to that library. The Editors use this occasion to send greetings and best wishes to Osnovy. May their business thrive and all their creative plans come to fruition!
