Ojārs Vācietis “Sasiesim astes”, Rīga: Liesma 1967. With an inscription by O. Vācietis to I. Ziedonis and A. Kantāne (1968). (Imants Ziedonis and Ojārs Vācietis were lifelong friends.) RTMM 721533(01)
The foreign literature section of the writer Andrejs Kurcijs’ private library contains rare and valuable editions in French and Russian. The author of the book, the Russian poet Aleksei Kruchenykh, is a representative of the early-20th-century literary genre of futurism. This edition is special – it contains a lithograph by the artist Kazimir Malevich. RTMM 97955
This collection also contains the private libraries of people working in the field of culture who were forced to go into exile. This edition was released during the German occupation of Rīga. Writer Elza Ķezbere took the book with her when she fled to Germany; it was there, it would appear, that the inscription was made. The book then travelled with her to New York, where the writer lived from the 1950s onwards. The book returned to Latvia in 2006. Mārtiņš Zīverts and Elza Ķezbere were friends. The poetess mentioned Ulubele, Munchausen’s dreamland, in her works. RTMM 707164

The collection of books includes books and periodicals connected to collections from all branches of the museum. The collection has more than 80,000 holdings in total. Books, as assets of cultural history, portray not only the development of national culture but the contribution and interests of many different individuals as well. A book can serve as an excellent source of additional research material for researchers who are studying other holdings in the museum’s collection.

One of the central sections of the collection of books contains private libraries – 200 individual collections, altogether amounting to more than 60,000 holdings. These collections are stored together and are not added to. Aside from the inherent value of the book itself, the inscriptions, autographs, notes, underlinings and comments in the pages’ margins deserve special notice, giving evidence of the book owner’s thoughts about the book, and their interests and mindset, as well as their relationship with time and other people.

The collections of the literature branch include more than 100 private libraries, containing more than 40,000 holdings. The most significant libraries are those of Rainis and Aspazija; Jānis Akuraters; Krišjānis Barons; Anna Brigadere; Jēkabs Janševskis; Jānis Sudrabkalns; Mirdza Ķempe; Kārlis Krūza; Vilis Plūdonis; Gunārs Priede; Jānis Endzelīns; Marta Rudzīte; Elza Ķezbere; Andrejs Eglītis; Anšlavs Eglītis; and Imants Ziedonis, among many others. Also significant are the relatively small private libraries of Eduards Veidenbaums and Fricis Bārda.

The theatre history collections contain more than 60 private libraries, amounting to more than 10,000 holdings in total. The most significant private libraries are those of Eduards Smiļģis, Alfrēds Amtmanis-Briedītis, Jurijs Jurovskis, Emīlija Bērziņa, Anta Klints, Kārlis Kundziņš and Augusts Gulbis, among others.

The most significant private libraries in the music history collection are those of Emīls Melngailis, Arturs Birnsons, Jēkabs Graubiņš, Jānis Zālītis and Helmers Pavasars, as well as the Adelaide Latvian Museum and the Biezaitis family’s Music collection.

The oldest items in the collection of books are a part of the history of religion collection: a Bible published in 1689; and, from the collection related to J. Akuraters, Luther’s catechism, published in 1524. Since the late 1980s, the collection of books has been supplemented with rare editions published by Latvian exiles – both individual copies and parts of private libraries.