BOOKS

Two books were selected from the collections of The Wroblewski Library of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences for the Virtual Printing House. The first of those is the translation into the Polish language of the On Duties by Cicero printed in Karcan family printing house in 1593. A blackletter or a Gothic script was used for this small (19 cm) book. Gothic script for Latin alphabet occurred around the jmth and 11th centuries in Italy and France. It has 4 variations: Textura (Textualis), Fraktur, Schwabacher and Gothic Antiqua. Textura first was used in printing by J. Gutenberg. Gothic script was frequently changed. It was popular in Europe for several decades, but in Germany and Lithuania Minor has been used till World War II. Schwabacher was the most popular in the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania.

The second book the Rosarium et officium B. Mariae Virginis (The Rosary) is a book of prayers with added calendar and psalter. The book was printed in the Printing house of Vilnius Academy in 1680 and is known as one of the most beautiful works of this printing house. It is decorated with 40 engravings of famous Ukrainian artist Alexander Tarasewich. Book was printed using a script called Antiqua. This script was used in printing houses for Latin alphabet since 15th century. It had several garnitures – sets for various porpoises (used for the main text, title, posters). Those were of different contrast and construction of letters. In the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania it was used since the 16th century.

Both books are filled with various decorative elements. Intensive colouring is common in manuscripts, but printed books usually are not very colourfull. Two main colours are used – black and red. Books that we have selected were printed using only black ink but still very decorative. Headpieces were used in both. Headpiece is a decorative drawing placed above the text or a chapter of a manuscript or printed book. Initials are very common. Initial is a letter at beginning of a chapter that is larger than the rest and illustrated. Those were often coloured or covered with a layer of gold. In Lithuania ornamented initials are found in the manuscript documents of the Chancery of the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania dated from 14th to 16th centuries. Another important decorative element is colophon. Colophon is an ornament that marks the end of a chapter or a book. Sometimes it is created by printing shorter lines, using letters of different size or script. It allows to create various ornaments and figures. Ornament is a decorative element of a book made from one or few figures that are rhythmically repeated.

All those elements together with a right script, paper and unique bounding makes every old book exceptional.