With a conference by Marie-Luce Demonet: “How to trace missing slips: paper and glue in the Bordeaux copy of Montaigne’s Essais (1588-1592)“

What makes a book sharp and witty? How did early modern print culture shape the way we read, think, and communicate today? The Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania and the National Museum of Lithuania invite scholars to unravel these questions at the international conference “Acutus et Argutus: Early Modern Print Culture in Motion.” The event celebrates the legacy of Matthias Casimirus Sarbievius (1595–1640), a master of Baroque poetry and literary theory, whose work “De acuto et arguto” delves into the aesthetics of wit and piercing style in literature. This concept of sharpness and agility in expression mirrors the dynamic transformations that swept through book culture during the early modern period.