Presentation of facsimile edition of first Croatian printed book and first book in Europe not printed in Latin script
On 20 February 2023, the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) will host the presentation of the 2022 facsimile edition of the first Croatian printed book published as a result of the cooperation between the Old Church Slavonic Institute, Chakavian Assembly in Roč, the Mozaik knjiga publishing company and the Library. Prompted by the 540th anniversary of the printing of the historic work, the first book in Europe not printed in the Latin alphabet, the one-year joint undertaking included the preparation of the first Latin transliteration of the book’s text, originally written in the Croatian Glagolitic script.
The epochal work, ‘Missal by the Law of the Roman Court’ (Misal po zakonu rimskoga dvora), was published in 1483, only 28 years after the completion of the Gutenberg Bible, and represents a cornerstone of the Croatian cultural heritage. There are currently only 11 incomplete copies of Misal, six of which are located in Croatia, and five abroad. Two copies are preserved in the Manuscripts and Old Books Collection of the National and University Library in Zagreb, another two are located at the Ksaver Monastery of Third Order Franciscans in Zagreb, one is part of the collection of the Library of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and the last of six copies preserved in Croatia is in the Library of the Dominican Monastery in Bol, on the island of Brač. The remaining five copies, located abroad, are preserved at the Vatican Library in Rome, Library of Congress in Washington, National Library of Russia in Saint Petersburg and Austrian National Library in Vienna.
The presentation will also announce this year’s programme of the celebration of the National and University Library in Zagreb Day, marked on the date of the missal’s printing, 22 February.
