Original scientific paper

THE GRAPHIC EXEMPLARS OF CYRILLIC PUBLICATIONS OF THE PROTESTANT PRINTING HOUSE IN URACH (1561—1563)

Mateo Žagar ; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Croatian study

Abstract

The basic intent of this paper is to examine the relationship between the script used in Cyrillic publications from Urach and earlier printed exemplars: Church Slavonic editions, books printed by Belorusian printer Francysk Skaryna (1470—1551/ 52), Western Cyrillic printed books, and the general Cyrillic manuscript tradition. This research will estimate the extent to which Croatian printers in Urach relied on solutions known to them from Belarusian scholar and printer Francysk Skaryna (especially his Bible, printed in volumes in Prague from 517— 1519). It will also examine the extent to which they adopted Church Slavonic manuscript or printed traditions or followed the graphic traditions of Western Cyrillic books used in the western Balkans. Finally, it will determine whether their work reflects widespread Latin or Glagolitic practice, which is especially important as the exemplars available to them were written in these scripts. The foundation for this research is the final documented assessment of the Cyrillic New Testament printed in Urach; as needed, other Cyrillic texts printed in Urach will also be taken into consideration, especially the 1561 Tabla za dicu and test sheets from the same year, which were laid out and printed prior to the printing of the New Testament. A thorough comparison of Skaryna’s printing and the books from Urach shows that the script of Skaryna’s editions is more conservative (as was the language itself, whose recognisable letter ductus is closer to Church Slavonic tradition), while the script of the books from Urach is closer to contemporaneous Latin practice (especially in orthographic solutions). Instead of the expected increased traces of minusculization (as the text from Urach is 30 years more recent), the text shows a more accentuated two—line (uncial) line organisation; the letter fields are more similar in size, while the opposition between capital and lower-case letters is not as binary as in Skaryna’s editions. The Cyrillic letters in the books from Urach also show the apparent influence of Latin letter forms and use the letter system of Western Cyrillic (Bosnia, Dubrovnik) and Croatian Glagolitic books that the editors from Urach were well familiar with (apparent e.g. in the use of djeru and yers).

Keywords

early Glagolitic printing; early Cyrillic printing; Urach, Protestant printing press; Francysk Skaryna

Hrčak ID:

276141

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/276141

Publication date:

14.10.2021.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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