LITUANUS LITHUANIAN QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES   Volume 46, No.2 - Summer 2000 Editor of this issue: Violeta Kelertas ISSN 0024-5089 Copyright © 2000 LITUANUS Foundation, Inc.

Res Balticae, 1-5, 1995-1999: Miscellanea Italiana Di Studi Baltistici, Cura e preparazione di P. U. Dini & N. Mikhailov.

The first volume of the journal Res Balticae was published in 1991. The founding editors are Pietro U. Dini (University of Pisa) and Nikolai Mikhailov (University of Udine). The basic structure of the respective volumes was set out as follows: Baltistica, Prutenistica, Lituanistica, and Lettonistica are the four main sections into which the scholarly papers were grouped from the very beginning. Sections on historiography and mythology are added if there is relevant material available.

Starting a new scholarly journal is always a perilous venture. In the case of Res Balticae, it was clear from the outset that the renowned Baltistica (published in Vilnius) would attract the major attention of the specialist reading public. But the two editors have succeeded in gaining the collaboration of practically all important scholars in the field, so that volumes 1 to 5 really present a panorama of current Baltic studies. The publication carries the subtitle Miscellanea Italiana di Studi Baltistici, but in fact it is truly international. It is also interdisciplinary in the full sense of the term.

Now that the fifth volume has been published we can be certain that the "point of no return" has been passed. This volume, which was published in the fall of 1999, contains a whole series of interesting papers written by specialists around the world. Particularly welcome is the section Archivum I, which is devoted to the life and work of Eberhard Tangl (1897-1979): Der lituanistische Nachlass von Eberhard Tangl. Tangl's dissertation Der Accusativus und Nominativus. cum Participio im Altlitauischen has been reprinted in this section together with a number of his papers.

A final section "Segnalazioni e Recensioni" offers a number of important reviews on recent publications in the field of Baltic studies.

The editors are to be congratulated on this remarkable achievement: Res Balticae continues the tradition started in the thirties with the now defunct journal Studi baltici. Everyone interested in Baltic studies wishes the editors success in their venture.

Inquiries should be addressed to the editors: Prof. Dr. Pietro U. Dini, Dipartimento di Linguistica, via S. Maria 36, 56127 Pisa, Italy, Prof. Dr. Nikolai Mikhailov, Dipartimento di Lingue e Civiltà del-l'Europa centro-orientale, via Zanon 6, 33100 Udine, Italy.

Alfred Bammesberger
Catholic University of Eichstaett, Germany