1 Introduction

As it is well known now, empty cosmic volumes (=voids) are the most prominent features of the large scale structure of the Universe. Besides huge voids of about 100 Mpc size which are revealed in deep galaxy redshift surveys (Joeveer et al. 1978; Kirshner et al. 1981; de Lapparent et al. 1986), in the very nearby Universe one can find also "minivoids" with a diameter of 3-5 Mpc (Karachentsev 1994). Are the voids completely empty of galaxies? The question may be answered more easily by studying nearby voids.

Compiling the Catalogue and the Atlas of nearby galaxies which covers the Local Supercluster volume, Tully (1988) noted a wide sky region towards RA $\sim19^{\rm h}$, and $D\sim+20\hbox{$^\circ$}$ which is absolutely avoided by galaxies from known catalogues. Extinction at low galactic latitudes cannot be the main cause of this phenomenon. Unfortunately, Tully did not indicate even approximately the Local Void boundary. This led to a confusion in which different authors ascribed the same name to different volumes. Below we use our own definition of the center and extent of the Local Void.

Our main goal was to search for new nearby dwarf galaxies in this Local Void. Because the Local Void begins actually just beyond the Local Group edge, we obtain here unprecedently a low threshold for detection of very faint dwarf galaxies in a void, which is an order of magnitude lower than for detection in other voids.