Library
The library of the Franciscan monastery in Kraljeva Sutjeska is interesting to
visitors due to a large number of old and rare editions. By content and
spatially it is divided into three parts: old (museum), new and latest. The old
part contains edition printed prior to 1850, about 5000 copies. The new part has
about 7000 copies while the latest one contains 8000 pieces. Total number of
books in possession of the monastery is 20.000.
Especially significant are inkunabule, books printed prior to 1500. The
monastery's library keeps 31 inkunabula or half of the total number existing in
BiH.
Inkunabula
Durante G., Rationale divinorum offitiorum, printed in 1478.
Inkunabula printed in Venice 1475.
Equal attention should be given to works by Bosnian Franciscans, from fra Matija
Divković (1563-1631) to fra Grga Martić (1822-1905). Since the monastery was
part of the Franciscan community Provincija Bocna Srebrena, which in addition to
BiH included parts of Dalmatia, Slavonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Hungary, it is
understandable that Franciscans used both Latin and Bosnian alphabets. As a
result there are numerous copies of books printed and written in Bosnian
alphabet. The library also contains the monastery’s archive
with various documents being the testimony to different events which the
monastery went through in its six and a half centuries-long history. There is
also the Charter by the Hungarian king Matija Korvin from 1481, the oldest
preserved record of the baptized written in Bosnian alphabet from 1461, numerous
scriptures and monastery’s correspondence, ferman of the sultan Ahmed I from
1607 as well as over 2000 other Turkish documents such as fermani, bujruntije,
udžeti, tapije, teskere etc.
Charter by the Hungarian king Matija Korvin from 1481.
Letter from Sultan Ahmet 1st (17. century).
Record of the baptised written in Bosnian alphabet from 1641.
Text prepared by: prof. dr. Fra Stjepan Duvnjak |
