/: INCUNABULA CROATICA: hrvatske inkunabule u hrvatskim ustanovama

INCUNABULA CROATICA: Croatian incunabula in Croatian institutions

The monograph Incunabula Croatica is a major publishing venture of the National and University Library that makes a valuable contribution to the study of incunabula and the history of Croatian books. 
By publishing this edition, NSK in Zagreb presents the result of dedicated work on incunabula research, carried out in cooperation with numerous ecclesiastical and secular institutions in Croatia. In the center of the monograph there are 96 Croatian incunabula in 180 copies that have been identified in 40 institutions. 
The data were collected as part of the long-standing project of the Croatian First Prints Library: a list and description of first prints in Croatian secular and church institutions, and are also based on the research of Croatian incunabulists from Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski in the 19th century to Šima Jurić and Fr. Vatroslav Frkin in the 20th century. exhaustively described copies of Croatian incunabula that are kept in Croatian institutions. The work also includes three scientific studies and an extensive bibliography, and as a special attachment in the form of QR codes, it provides direct access to digital copies on the NSK Digital Collection portal. In this way, incunabula are ensured not only permanent preservation, but also comprehensive availability in the digital environment.

Incunabula as a symbolic cradle of the Croatian national collection of printed heritage

Only 28 years after the printing of Gutenberg's Bible, and ten years before Columbus's discovery of America, Croats printed their first book in the Croatian language using the Glagolitic script. Croatian incunabula represent the foundation and symbolic cradle of the national collection of printed heritage. With the publication of the Croatian Prvotisk, the Glagolitic Missal according to the law of the Roman court from 1483, which we proudly keep in our fund, Croatian culture permanently entered into the European and world trends of cultural and technological development of that time.

Permanent testimony and incentive for new research

Incunabula Croatica is not only a list of the oldest Croatian printed books but and a lasting testimony to the richness of the cultural heritage of our nation. It is also an incentive for new research, a reminder of the importance of preserving printed heritage and inspiration for future discoveries.