Review article
On the discovery of the glagolitic Missal of Senj and rare copies thereof
Anica Nazor
; Razred za filološke znanosti Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti
Abstract
In 1849, Ivan Berčić of Zadar made the first step towards the discovery of
the first trace of the glagolitic Missal of Senj of 1494 in the village of Ugljan
on the island of Ugljan in the vicinity of Zadar. There he found one half
of one leaf of the book. In 1854, in another village on the island of Ugljan,
he discovered two more leaves of the Missal, while in 1863, his former student,
Srećko Bakija, “in whom, the moment I set my eyes on him, I saw the
so-much-desired missal” (Berčić), brought him an incomplete copy (notched
at the beginning and at the end) from the village of Pakoštane. He wrote a
very detailed description of this copy and concluded that it had been printed
in Senj in 1507. Twenty-four years after Berčić’s death, a copy of the Missal,
complete with detailed colophon, emerged in Ludwig Rosenthal’s second-
hand bookshop in Munich; in the book, its publication date was recorded:
1494. Miseca avgusta 7. ovi misali biše početi i svršeni v Senji… (in 1494,
on the 7th day of the month of August, this missal was commenced and finished in
Senj…). The copy was bought for the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest
at an auction held on 1 May 1895, despite Vatroslav Jagić’s endeavours
for it to be bought for the University Library in Zagreb. During the auction,
the price grew too quickly, so that Zagreb could not compete. Hence, at
the beginning of his extensive description of the Missal, Hungarian Slavist
Oszkár Ásbóth emphasised that the book was “of exceptional value” and that
considerable material sacrifice accompanied its acquisition.
In 1982, conventual friar Josip Vlahović discovered one rather incomplete
copy in the library of the conventual Franciscan friars in the town of Cres
on the island of Cres.
In 1984, Andrej Kruming discovered a fragment of the Missal of Senj (leaves
131–133) in Odessa (the State Scientific Library of Odessa, sign. 1-8814.).
This fragment is of importance, since it is the (only) preserved canonical crucifix
in xylograph.
The facts related to the discovery of the Glagolitic Missal of Senj of 1494
and the state of preservation of the rare original copies thereof present arguments
in favour of the importance of publishing a facsimile reprint. Regarding
the publishing itself, Milan Moguš, Fellow of the Croatian Academy of
Sciences and Arts, who was born in Senj, played an essential role in the reprinting
of the missal.
Keywords
Missal of Senj; printing house of Senj; Milan Moguš
Hrčak ID:
161744
URI
Publication date:
13.7.2016.
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