|
Incunabula |
1499 Docheiariou Monastery, Library Venice, Nicholas Vlastos - Zacharias Kalliergis |
|
|
Great Etymological Dictionary Most beneficial.- [on the last folio but one]: 'The great etymological dictionary completed by the grace of God in Venice; commissioned by the noble and excellent Nicholas Vlastos the Cretan; at the urging of the most radiant and wise Lady Anne, daughter of the most venerable and glorious Lord Loukas Notaras, once Grand Duke of Constantinople; printed with care and skill for the learned by Zacharias Kalliergis the Cretan, and dedicated to Hellenic letters. 22 August 1499' fol.[124].- One of the world's masterpieces of the printer's art, from the oldest Greek printing shop in the West. The Cretan Zacharias Kalliergis, a superbly artistic printer, himself created the type for this book, which he decorated with wonderful red headpieces, initial letters and vignettes. Nicholas Vlastos, also a Cretan, was the owner of the printing shop. Anna Notara was the daughter of the last Grand Duke of Byzantium, Loukas Notaras, who together with his sons was put to death by the Sultan Mohammed II a few days after the Fall of Constantinople. Shortly before the city was taken, Anna had fled to the West 'with great wealth', and in 1475 settled permanently in Venice. Her contribution to the publication of this work was probably the finance. The book is prefaced by two epigrams in an archaic form of Greek by the Cretans Markos Mousouros (20 lines) and Ioannis Gregoropoulos (4 lines), and a prose address: Markos Mousouros sends greetings to the scholars of Padua. From the Mousouros epigram we learn about those who worked on the printing of this book. There is no other copy of this work in the libraries of Mount Athos | |
Bibliography: Legrand 1885-1903, I, no. 23.
| ||
Th.I.P. | ||
Index of exhibits of Monastery of Docheiareiou 15th century |
Reference address : https://elpenor.org/athos/en/e218ev2.asp