Montenegrin Cyrillic Printing
book
Admission to the exhibition for the NL registered users and those with a one-day Admission Ticket in the NL Opening Hours
NL readers entrance free
Montenegro is one of the first countries, in which printing was developed after the invention of printing press. Thanks to the ruling Crnojević family, Oktoich or The Octoechos of the First Tone was published in 1494 in Cetinje, the capital of the then independent Principality of Zeta. It was the first book printed in Cyrillic in Southeastern Europe. Crnojević´s printing house was also one of the first to print books in Cyrillic script. The printing activity of Đurađ Crnojević, the Lord of Zeta in 1490–1496, was continued by Božidar Vuković (1460–1539), who printed his books in Venice due to the Ottomans conquest of the Montenegro territory. Books published by the two founders can rightfully be ranked among the most precious works of the time, which significantly influenced not only regional but also wider European book culture.
The exhibition was prepared by Matica crnogorska and has been organized in association with the Slavonic Library. Display panels with texts in Czech and English clearly present this significant initial period of Slavic book printing, its key personalities and their work. Thanks to many reproductions, a visitor can discover the most important works published in the printing offices mentioned above. Two titles – Psalter with Cantos (1495) printed by Ðurađ Crnojević and Festal Menalon (1538) by Božidar Vuković – are featured in the form of phototypical editions.
