LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Kitabistika; Kryptys; Lietuvos totoriai; Rankraščiai; Rankraščiai, tyrimai; Rašytinis Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės paveldas; Directions; Kitabistics; Lithuanian Tatars; Manuscripts; Research; Writing heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
ENThis paper discusses the history of research in the field of kitabistics from the moment of its inception till 1968. The term kitabistics derives from the word kitab (in Arabic kitab denotes a book) - one of the most important genre varieties found in Lithuanian Tatars' manuscripts. Consequently, kitabistics is the study of the handwritten heritage of Lithuanian Tatars. The distinctive feature of the manuscript monuments of Lithuanian Tatars is that the texts in (Old) Belarusian and (Old) Polish were recorded in the Arabic script. The paper focuses on the stages and main directions of the development of kitabistics. Scholars have always paid attention to not only the literary and educational value of studying the manuscript heritage of Lithuanian Tatars, but also its historical and philological significance. Since the very first mentions of these manuscripts in the 19th century, the contents of kitabs have been used as examples in academic papers, the first principles of their transcription have been laid down and attempts have been made to register and catalogue them. However, it was professor of Vilnius University Anton K. Antonovich who managed to develop an academically-based system of translating these texts and provided new research directions in his monograph Belarusian Texts Written in the Arabic Script and Their Graphic-Orthographic System (1968). The publication of this monograph marks a new stage in the development of kitabistics. [From the publication]