The book Museum offers a one book exhibition “The Altar Gospel” timed to the Day of the Orthodox Book and the 440th anniversary of Piotr Mstislavec’s Gospel.
On March 14th the Belarusian Orthodox Church celebrates the Day of the Orthodox Book. The annual holiday was established in 2009 by the Synod of Russian Orthodox Church. It is timed to the release of the first in Russia dated book printed by Ivan Fyodorov Apostol (The Apostle), 1564.
Within the bounds of this holiday, the National Library offers an exhibition in the Book Museum. An outstanding monument of Slavic writing of the XVI century – Evangelie naprestol'noe (The Altar Gospel) published by Piotr Mstislavec in Vilna in 1575 is on display.
Piotr Timofeevich Mstislavec (? – after 1576) is the known East Slavic first printer, engraver, follower of Francisk Skorina, colleague of Ivan Fyodorov, one of founders of book publishing in Moscow Russia and in Ukraine.
In 1574–1576 Piotr Mstislavec worked at the Mamonichs’ printing house in Vilna where he published three books – Evangelie naprestol'noe (The Altar Gospel), 1575, with the images of Evangelists, Psaltir' (Psalter), 1576, with an engraved frontispiece and Chasovnik (Prayer-Book), between 1574 and 1576.
The Gospel is published in sheet format and printed in a large expressive font which later became a sample for so-called evangelical fonts. The type-setting is remarkable for a high accuracy and technical faultlessness. Four engravings of Evangelists are executed in special style of figured images which had played an important role in the further perfection of book engraving.
Piotr Mstislavec’s editions had exerted a significant influence upon book publishing in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and had left an appreciable trace in the development of education.
The exhibition runs from 14 March, 2015.
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