''Missale Romanum Glagolitice'' ( hr, Misal po zakonu rimskoga dvora) is a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n missal and

incunabulum In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were p ...

printed in 1483. It is written in Glagolitic script and is the first printed Croatian book. It is the first missal in Europe not published in

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern I ...

. Its '' editio princeps'', unique in the achieved

typographic Typography is the art and technique of typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

artistry, was published only 28 years after the

Gutenberg bible The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the " Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of printed ...

's 42-lines, bears witness of high cultural attainment and maturity of Croatian Glagolites and Croatian mediaeval literature.Hercigonja:1984 "''Because of the importance of Glagolitic printing in the period from 1483 to 1561...as indisputably the highest attainment of Croatian medieval literature and a crucial event in our entire cultural tradition.''"; "''In the fifteenth century the Croatian Glagolitism reached the highest point in its development, the era of the full maturity of its literary endeavourings. The most prominent results of these endeavourings were indisputably the appearance of the editio princeps of the Croatian Glagolitic Missal on the 22nd February 1483 and the organisation of the Glagolitic printing business during the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries (Kosinj, Senj, Rijeka, Venecija).''"

Characteristics

It is written in the Croatian recension of Church Slavonic and printed in Croatian angular Glagolitic. It has 440 pp, in format 19x26 cm. Its principal model in terms of subject and equivalent Glagolitic letters is thought to be the famous codex '' Misal kneza Novaka'' ("Prince Novak's Missal"), from 1368. The original manuscript of Novak's missal was then located in the village of Nugla near Roč. The text, however, was "modernized" with numerous words from then contemporary language. It was edited by the priests of Roč, notably Žakan Juri. The original manuscript of Novak's missal bears a historically important note by Simon Greblo. The manuscript used for the print of the Missale Romanum Glagolitice was probably carried to print by the deacon Žakan Juri. Paleographic and linguistic analysis of the text revealed that the first printed Croatian books was edited by the Croats from Istria. The Missal rituals strictly follow the Latin Editio princeps (Milan, 1474) with slight differences in the order of some rituals. Date of the printing (22 February 1483) is shown in the colophon, but the place of printing of still remains to be identified. According to some researchers, it was printed in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, but recent research assume suggests that it might have been printed in

Kosinj Kosinj (English: Denison), also known as Kosinj Valley, is a hilly region in Perušić municipality, Lika-Senj County, Croatia. It contains three villages: Gornji Kosinj and Donji Kosinj, which are connected by the Kosinj Bridge on the Lika ri ...

in the Lika region. There is a historically important note on the manuscript used as a template for the Missale Romanum Glagolitice's print, written by Žakan Juri, who likely carried the book to print, in which he expresses his satisfaction at the forthcoming printing of the first Croatian book. In the note, he mentions that he is in Izola, and it is assumed that he was en route to the printing press. Eleven incomplete copies and six fragments have been preserved, five of which are held in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

: two in the National and University Library, and two in the library of the

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop J ...

. The Franciscan monastery in Zagreb and the Dominican monastery on the island of

Brač Brač is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of , making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide. The island's tall ...

have one copy each. The other five copies are kept in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

in Washington, in the

Russian National Library The National Library of Russia (NLR, russian: Российская национальная библиотека}), located in Saint Petersburg, is the first, and one of three national public libraries in Russia. The NLR is currently ranked amo ...

in St. Petersburg, in the

Austrian National Library The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of V ...

in Vienna and in the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

(two copies).

Notes

References

* {{cite journal , url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=22233 , authorlink=Eduard Hercigonja , first=Eduard , last=Hercigonja , journal=Slovo , publisher=

Old Church Slavonic Institute The Old Church Slavonic Institute ( hr, Staroslavenski institut) is Croatian public institute founded in 1952 by the state for the purpose of scientific research on the language, literature and paleography of the mediaeval literary heritage of the ...

, title=Historical, social and cultural-environmental conditions of the origin and development of croatian glagolitic printing (on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the editio princeps of the 1483 Missal) , language=Croatian , date=September 1984 , volume=34

External links

1483 missal digitised
at the National and University Library
Information page
of copy at the

''Missale Romanum Glagolitice''
by Vlasta Radan Missals Incunabula 1483 books Croatian literature Croatian glagolithic texts

Characteristics

See also

Notes

References

External links