Glagolitic matrices
Here is an esoteric question: Does anyone know what might have happened to the glagolitic matrices that Harold Berliner used to own? I vaguely recall seeing that they were sold to a museum in Europe. (Glagolitic = the first Slavic alphabet, used mainly in liturgical books until the early twentieth century). As far as I know they were the only glagolitic matrices/metal type outside the Vatican’s Typographia Polyglotta. Attached is a detail from the glagolitic editio princeps of 1483. The type from that incunabulum is lost, but subsequent type faces were equally beautiful. Contemporary digital faces are based mainly on calligraphic alphabets from the 14th and 15th centuries.
Thanks in advance for any hints.
1483on2.jpg
Hans-Ullrich Frey at Offizin Parnassis in Switzerland got the Berliner mat collection. Webiste: http://www.parnassia.org/
dcr- Several years ago (actually MANY years ago) I saw a few mats of a very similar type for sale in central Europe. The style is quite distinctive and easy to recognize, and I made a few sketches in my notebook. They appeared to be for a standard hand-mold of the sort common in the 1700’s and were marked as “Slav Cyrillic”. Since they were not what I knew to be “Cyrillic”, I passed them by….. and could now kick myself for having done so.
parallel - thanks very much for the info. It will be very helpful for a research project I’m doing this summer.
winking - a yes! the missed opportunities. I feel your pain. I have seen so much printing and bookbinding stuff in shops in central Europe that I just wish I had the handy cash to scoop up…
dcrnkovic, you should check out the website of Georg Kraus in Germany: www.bleisetzer.de He buys and sells and has often stuff from former East Germany as well.
t gravemaker- Many thanks for the tip about Georg Kraus. I might even have time to swing a visit in June.