Preskočite do glavnog sadržaja

Latin transliterations of 16th-century masterpieces from the cradle of the Croatian Glagolitic printing tradition

Covers of the Latin transliterations of the 1507 Croatian translation (Naručnik plebanušev) of Manipulus curatorum (14th c.) and 1508 Croatian translation (Mirakuli Slavne Deve Marije) of Miracoli della gloriosa Vergine Maria (15th c.).

On 25 April 2024, the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) hosted a presentation of the recently published Latin transliterations of two 16th-century masterpieces of Croatian Glagolitic heritage printed in Senj, the cradle of the Croatian Glagolitic printing.

In 2023, the 1507 Croatian translation (Naručnik plebanušev) of Manipulus curatorum (14th c.) and 1508 Croatian translation (Mirakuli Slavne Deve Marije) of Miracoli della gloriosa Vergine Maria (15th c.), both printed in the Croatian Glagolitic script at the historic printing house in Senj, got their Latin transliterations, published by the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and Institute for the Croatian Language, respectively.

The 1507 Croatian translation (Naručnik plebanušev) of Manipulus curatorum (14th c.). Library of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
The 1508 Croatian translation (Mirakuli Slavne Deve Marije) of Miracoli della gloriosa Vergine Maria (15th c.). Library of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

The transliterations’ presentation, hosted by the Library as part of the programme marking the 150th anniversary of the Faculty’s founding, spotlighted the prominent place of the Senj printing house in the context of Croatian Glagolitic heritage.

The gems of the Croatian Glagolitic tradition available in Latin

After a welcome address by the Director General of the National and University Library in Zagreb Dr Ivanka Stričević, the publications were presented by the Faculty’s Assistant Professor Ivana Eterović and Juraj Matej Kovač, the editors of the 1507 work’s transliteration, and Dr Mirjana Crnić Novosel, from the Institute, the co-editor with Eterović of the 1508 work’s transliteration.

Director General of the National and University Library in Zagreb Dr Ivanka Stričević and Assistant Professor at the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Ivana Eterović.
Juraj Matej Kovač and Dr Mirjana Crnić Novosel, from the Institute for the Croatian Language.

Along with the Head of the Section for Old Church Slavonic and Croatian Glagolitic Heritage at the Faculty’s Department of Croatian Language and Literature Associate Professor Tanja Kuštović, the transliterations’ consulting editors Fellow of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and Professor at the Faculty Mateo Žagar and Professor Boris Kuzmić also took part in the presentation.

Associate Professor at the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Tanja Kuštović, the Faculty’s Professor Boris Kuzmić and Fellow of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and Professor at the Faculty Mateo Žagar.

Senj, the cradle of the Croatian Glagolitic printing

Operating between 1494 and 1508, the printing house in Senj was the second printing house on Croatian soil. Having issued altogether seven major works of Croatian Glagolitic heritage, the Senj printing house was founded by Blaž Baromić, a distinguished Croatian Glagolitic scribe and printer whose 1493 breviary the Library boasts as one of the priceless treasures preserved in its Manuscripts and Old Books Collection.

Both transliterations were prepared as part of the Faculty’s research project focusing on the texts of the Croatian Glagolitic heritage and funded by the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media and the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Foundation.