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There is no equivalent in any language of the world „knygnešys“. In other languages this term is often translated as a „book smuggler“. From the point of view of the tsarist Russia our “knygnešiai” (booksellers/book carriers/book distributors) were smugglers. After the rebellion of 1863, when the tsarist government of Russia prohibited the Lithuanian press, the period of “knygnešiai” and “daraktoriai” in Lithuania and beyond began. This period awakened the gigantic potential of the nation, infused people‘s hearts with love for people, language, culture, literature, and books. The future revolutionaries of the future Lithuanian nation grew up and matured in poverty schools, who, when the time came, invited the people to freedom and independence. The towns of Punskas and Seinai gave birth to a large number of “knygnešiai”, who, at the risk of their lives, liberties, personal or family assets, distributed Lithuanian books and press. Among them there were priests and secular people, intellectuals and ordinary people. The Seinai Spiritual Seminary, which was established in 1826, played a vital role in the revival of the Lithuanian nation. It was the distribution centre of illegal books across Užnemunė. The seminarians distributed the press in various ways, they spread it across the dioceze while going on their holidays, distributed it to their relatives who came to the seminary, sent them by post by placing or wrapping it in Russian newspapers. Four manuscript publications were edited in the Seminary. There were a lot of “knygnešiai” in our country. Not all of their names are known to the public today. Some people have almost disappeared from our collective memory. Some of them were from the caste of the clergy, such as Priest Antanas Milukas, Pastors of the Punskas Parish Simonas Norkus and Motiejus Simonaitis. The most well-known among the secular “knygnešiai” were Vincas Markevičius from Giluišiai village, Karolis Petruškevičius from Žagariai, Povilas Matulevičius from Kreivėnai and others. This article focuses on less known or forgotten but worthy “knygnešiai” of our country.

Antanas Trumpulis buvo tautosakos rinkėjo Mato Slančiausko talkininko Jono Trumpulio brolis. Nerasta duomenų, kad A. Trumpulis būtų buvęs brolio Jono ar Mato Slančiausko talkininkas renkant tautosaką. Jis mokėjo lietuviškai skaityti, gaudavo draudžiamos spaudos. Motinos teigimu, sūnus Antanas mokėjo ir latviškai. Domėjosi eilėmis, dainomis, susidaro įspūdis, kad ir pats mėgino eiliuoti. Jo byla – tai būdingas lietuvių spaudos skaitytojų (laikytojų) persekiojimo pavyzdys. Antanas Trumpulis was a brother of Jonas Trumpulis, a helper of Matas Slančiauskas, the collector of folklore. No data were found that Antanas Trumpulis would have helped his brother Jonas or Matas Slančiauskas in the collection of folklore. He could read Lithuanian and could get illegal press. According to his mother, her son Antanas also spoke Latvian. He was interested in poetry, songs, and we get the impression that he himself tried to write poetry. His case is an example of persecution of readers (keepers) of the Lithuanian press.

Nedaug kam šiandien yra žinomas Liudvikas Jakavičius, kurio pavardė jau seniai patekusi į visas lietuvių enciklopedijas, kultūros žinynus... Tačiau šiandienos žmogui šią asmenybę reikia lyg iš naujo atrasti atvertus primirštus XIX a. pabaigos– XX a. pirmosios pusės lietuvių kultūros istorijos puslapius. Šių metų kovo 10 dieną suėjo 140 metų nuo jo gimimo. Šį šviesuolį primena lietuvių kultūros tyrinėtojas Vilmantas Krikštaponis. Liudvikas Jakavičius (1871–1941) is not very well known today. He worked in the Lithuanian press, published books and calendars, and was a theatre director, actor, journalist and book smuggler. His name has long been in all Lithuanian encyclopaedias. However, the contemporary person needs to rediscover Jakavičius through the forgotten pages of the history of Lithuanian culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The cultural researcher Vilmantas Krikštaponis introduces us to those pages.

Straipsnyje pirmąkart aptariama dailės marginalijos – masiškai tiražuoti XIX a. pab. – XX a. pr. katalikų religiniai paveikslėliai, jų funkcijos ir reikšmė. Bandoma apibrėžti, ką būtų galima vadinti lietuviškais religiniais paveikslėliais, nagrinėjamos jų ištyrimo, apskaitos problemos ir aktualijos. Pristatoma pagrindinio tuo metu lietuviškų paveikslėlių leidėjo, nepelnytai pamiršto knygnešio, spaudos darbuotojo ir Krokuvos lietuvių studentų šelpėjo Juozapo Angrabaičio (1859–1935) veikla. For the first time, the article discusses the marginalia in the art and writings – catholic devotional images, which were printed en masse in the late 19th – early 20th century, their functions and importance. A high number of remaining small-format lithographies, chromolithographies as well as copper, steel and wood engravings and other printed material is an indicator of the religiosity of our ancestors and an instrument of religious media, religious literacy and the spread of various religious cults. This is an implementation of the respect and recognition of the Saints, which served as a source of ecclesiastical iconography, as an example for those who created images for churches and rural environment (e. g. folk sculptures for memorial monuments). On the other hand, the abundance of pictures reflected the intensity of the devotional industry and trade relations as well as the fashion trends. In addition, pictures have an intimate and personal aspect. Their main function was not only to inspire the believer in prayer, but also as a memory which recalls various occasions or persons. The commemorative printed or handwritten texts of prayers in Lithuanian as well as the description of the First Communion, all kinds of religious events and holidays, donation, remembrance of the deceased, etc. are a reflection of the national literacy and pledge. In the context of the Lithuanian press ban and low literacy, they are important as small monuments of the written language and contrafactions and are attributable to the phenomenon of book smuggling. An attempt is being made in the article to define what may be termed as Lithuanian religious pictures as well as problems of their research and inventorying. Because of the polyvalence of pictures (images, printed texts, records made by hand, different printing techniques), they may be attributed to the works of graphics and small prints. Therefore, it is difficult to establish a united registry. Hence, cooperation between bibliographers and art historians in preparing the registry is in need. On the other hand, the identification of the publisher is challenging. After all, many pictures are imported and reprinted. The activity of the main publisher and distributor of the Lithuanian devotional images at the time, wantonly forgotten book smuggler, print worker and supporter of the Lithuanian students in Cracow, Juozapas Angrabaitis (1859–1935), is presented in the article. An attempt is being made to outline his contribution to the history of Lithuanian culture. In 1893, J. Angrabaitis issued an exclusive catalogue of the devotional images in Tilsit, which in the absence of other archival sources is the main background when investigating the supply of images in Lithuania of that time. An attempt is being made in the article to determine the trade relations of J. Angrabaitis as well as to ascertain the signatures, pseudonyms and acronyms of the printed images.