Serbian Manuscript Books

Until the appearance of the first printed edition in 1493, books in Serbia were solely handwritten, either on parchment or papyrus, and were written for the most part in the Serbian rendition of Old Church Slavonic, intended for monasteries and church services.

By Vanja Savić
Photo Courtesy of NBS

Copied by hand for centuries, manuscript books were digitalised in the 21^st century, thereby marking a new era. As a result, a selection of pages of Serbian manuscript books from the National Library of Serbia (NBS) Archaeography Department is today available on-line. The majority of these manuscripts were copied in the Middle Ages, mostly in monasteries, all day long and often during the night, under a flickering candlelight. Copying – unlike the way this is done nowadays where letters simply appear on the screen by typing on a computer keyboard and printing with a simple click – was a long and tedious process that involved writing by hand, using calligraphic drawing and paint techniques that covered each individual letter. This was done on parchment, which was prevalent in Serbia through the beginning of the 14^th century, or on papyrus, which had already been introduced in the 13^th century.

The oldest preserved Cyrillic script in the Serbian version of Old Slavonic is the 12th-century Gospel of Prince Miroslav of Zahumlje, the brother of the founder of the first Serbian state, Stefan Nemanja. The Gospel was written on parchment using letters of the so-called Constitutional Cyrillic lettering, and was adorned with illuminated initials and miniatures in colour and gold. Most of the text was written by an anonymous scribe, aside from small portions, while the miniatures were written and painted by Grigorije Dijak.

As a cultural monument that is listed in the Memory of the World Register, the Miroslav Gospels also prove that the Serbian version of Old Church Slavonic received its definite form. In terms of its orthographic and calligraphic features, the book constitutes a link between the major sources of the age-old Zeta and Zahumlje writings, and the glagolitic tradition from Macedonia, with Rascian Cyrillic orthography.

This liturgical book, like other handwritten books, has a history as turbulent as the Serbian people themselves; it was moved many times due to the frequent wars that scourged the region. The Gospels were discovered by Russian expert Porphyry Ouspensky in the Serbian Chilandar Monastery in 1845. King Aleksandar I Obrenović was presented with the Gospels in 1896 by monastery brethren who had brought the book to Belgrade. In 1916, during World War I, the book surfaced in Corfu. Beginning in 1918, it was kept in the main State Bank vault. During World War II, it was kept in the Rača Monastery and in the National Bank, and since 1945 it has been in the National Museum in Belgrade. Two phototype editions are kept in the National Library of Serbia (NBS) Archaeography Department vault in Belgrade.

Chronologically speaking, the next preserved Serbian manuscript is the Serbian manuscript Bratkov Minej (Bratko’s Menaion), named after its scribe, Bratko. It was copied on parchment at the time of the rule of King Vladislav (1234–1243). This book, containing troparia and hymns for each month sung on Church holidays, best illustrates one of the outstanding features of this type of cultural treasure; the new text was written out after the existing text. Bratko’s Menaion was copied by five scribes, and an additional 14 other handwritings appear at different periods in time. The book is therefore dated in both the second quarter of the 13^th century and the fourth decade of the 14^th century. Its orthographic features connect it to the Zeta and Hum region, with various copyists accounting for differences. In terms of the stichera and canons it offers, the first section written by Bratko matches to a greater degree the 11^th-century Russian menaia. It belongs to the National Library’s old manuscript holdings and, like most of the handwritten books in the NBS holdings, it disappeared during World War I. It re-surfaced in the Federal Republic of Germany, from where it had to be purchased in 1969.

The Beogradski Parimejnik (the Belgrade Paroimiarion – sections of the Old Testament read during church services) dates back to the first quarter of the 13^th century. The script of this collection of selected paroimoia (Old Testament readings) in the Serbian version of Old Church Slavonic is characteristic for its early Rascian orthography, but some of its orthographic features connect it to the Zeta and Hum region manuscripts and Macedonian antecedents. The name of the scribe remains unknown. Also, only fragments of this paroimoia – one of the most beautiful monuments of early Serbian writings – have come down to us. The preserved fragments include those read during vespers from Wednesday evening on the first week of the Lent fast to the Friday of the so-called Palm Sunday. The Belgrade Paroimiarion was kept in the NBS until 1915, when it disappeared during the retreat of the Serbian Army and people  across Albania. It was returned to the NBS collection after being purchased from the Federal Republic of Germany in 1969.

The Zbornik Popa Dragojla (Compendium of Priest Dragojlo) dates to the third quarter of the 13^th century. It was so called after the scribe whose name appears on page 45 of this handwritten book. In terms of its orthographic features, the book is believed to be a monument of the early Chilandar School of Copyists. The Serbian version of its Old Slav written out on parchment – with the slight use of Greek letters and several linguistic traits originating in the Zeta and Hum region – shares many characteristics with the Miroslav Gospels. This collection of apocryphal texts is marked by numerous noun and verb discourse innovations, as well as the influence of the Macedonian language. The former owner of this handwritten book, a certain D. Srećković, discovered it in 1875 in an Albanian village near the town of Skadar. It had been kept for 17 generations in a family with a long tradition of priests. A Serbian Ministry bought it in 1902. It disappeared in 1915, and had to be bought from the Federal Republic of Germany in 1969.

The water marks of the Zbornik Srpskih Žitija and Hilandarski Tipik Taha Marka (Collection of Serbian Hagiographies and the Chilandar Typicon of Monk Marko), dating to 1370/75 and handwritten on papyrus by Monk Marko, indicate that it was written out in the Chilandar Monastery. The book is considered one of the loveliest standardised Rascian orthography writings from the last third of the 14^th century.

This manuscript includes some of the most significant works of Serbian medieval literature: the lives of St. Simeon and St. Sava by hagiographers Domentian and Teodosije, respectively, the Eulogy to St. Sava by Teodosije and the Chilandar Typicon composed by St. Sava. It as been kept in the NBS since 1914 and is the only handwritten book that was removed from the holdings during the April 6, 1941, bombing of Belgrade.

One of the finest examples of 14^th-century Serbian handwritten books, the Nikoljsko Jevandjelje (Gospels from the Nikolje Monastery), was written on parchment by the Nikolje Monastery School of Copyists in the Ovčar- Kablar Canyon. The book contains the four New Testament Gospels, and is remarkably beautiful for its illuminations and initials embroidered in colour with gold and silver threads. Each of the Gospel-writers has his own “trademark”, with the chapters starting with initials and applications in the form of crowns, lilies and other symbols. The book was kept in the Nikolje Monastery through the end of the 19^th century. It was discovered in 1820 by the great Serbian language reformer and enlightener Vuk Karadžić. It had been kept in the NBS until World War I, then all trace of it was lost in 1914 until its discovery in 1966 in the Dublin Library. Recently, 100 copies of this handwritten book were and distributed to various cultural and historical institutions throughout Serbia.

Although the first Serbian printed book, the 1493 Oktoih (Book of Psalms) was printed just four decades after of the Gutenberg printing press was invented, the copyist tradition continued in Serbia to meet the demand for books that exceeded the capacity of the ancient printing presses. One of the most significant handwritten books historically was the so-called Prizren copy of Emperor Dušan’s Code, dating to the early 16^th century. The scribe and location of its production remains a mystery. The copy was written on papyrus in the Serbian version of Old Slavonic and contains the abridged Sintagma Matije Vlastara (Syntagm of Matija Vlastar), Justinian Law and Emperor Dušan’s Code. The book had been kept in the Archive until World War II, and is now kept in the NBS archaeography vault.