Presentation of the Virtual Collection of the Works of Antun Gustav Matoš
Marking the centenary of the death of Antun Gustav Matoš, the National and University Library in Zagreb presented 11 hitherto unpublished letters of this distinguished Croatian poet, novelist and journalist, as part of the Virtual Collection of the Works of Antun Gustav Matoš.
Matoš wrote these letters to several prominent recipients: the Director of Drama at the Croatian National Theatre Josip Bach, Vladoje Schmidt-Jugović, who stood behind the journal Mladost, Zdenko Vernić, to whom Matoš wrote shortly before his death, Antun Scholz and the Board of Directors of the Dionička tiskara printing company.
Apart from the letters, this virtual collection consists of the copies of literary works by Matoš, photographs, postcards and notes describing anecdotes from Matoš’s biography and his travels around Europe. The central part of the collection is a timeline that visually represents Matoš’s path through life.
It also includes critical reviews of Matoš, a selection of works about Matoš, as well as the key passages from his personal or literary biography which highlight his role in the history of Croatian literature. The collection also brings Matoš’s digitised manuscripts, complete published works, presents his work as a journalist and displays the digitised front pages of the significant editions of Matoš’s works.
Along with the collection, this special presentation will include the announcement of the beginning of the campaign aimed at the building of another digital collection dedicated to Matoš, entitled Matoš i ja. The National and University Library in Zagreb is launching this campaign in order to prompt a resurgence of interest in Matoš’s works and popularise reading. Anyone owning a photograph, audio or video recording in some way related to Matoš is invited to send their material and thus join us in the building of the Matoš i ja digital collection, which will be linked with the Antun Gustav Matoš NUL virtual collection. The campaign will run until the beginning of November, i.e. Croatian Book Month, when the Matoš i ja collection will be presented to the public.
