Domsa Károlyné, Fekete Gézáné, Kovács Mária (szerk.): Gondolatok a könyvtárban / Thoughts in the Library (A MTAK közleményei 30. Budapest, 1992)

KÖNYVTÁR ÉS HAGYOMÁNY – LIBRARY AND TRADITION

Romanian typography for Georgia spiritual sap. This testimony gains in importance and interest since it comes from Antim's most gifted apprentices. The route followed by Mihail Stefanovici to Tiflis is obscure. We feel like he travelled by sea since on land he would have had to cross the unsafe Tatar-conquered lands, in primitive vehicles. He might have left together with several apprentices and of course, carried along their printing machines. As far as the type is concerned it is not clear if Antim had finished the type letters himself and they were carried by Mihail Stefanovici to Tiflis or had the Georgians already had their own type letters. Years ago, this question was raised by an outstanding scholar in printing techniques, Virgil Molin. In one of his articles dedicated to Mihail Stefanovici in Georgia, published in the prestigious review "The Romanian Orthodox Church", 1961, he alleges that on the date the Romanian typography arrived in Georgia, the type letter was available there. One of the Georgian kings, Arcil (1684-1695), who was also a poet, wishing to raise the cultural standing of his people, ordered the type letter from Amsterdam, the greatest European center of typography at the time. The order was placed through the Mayor Witsen of Amsterdam (16411717) who has hosted Peter the Great during his stay in Holland. To Arcil's letter was attached a model alphabet and maybe, an ancient Georgian manuscript for engraver's guidance. This Georgian alphabet was "hutsuri" used for religious texts since the year 410. We lay due stress on the fact the Georgian still use a very decorative rounded-letter alphabet called "mhedruli". Mayor Witsen further addressed the letter to the famous finish type Blaeu House. Here there was an apprentice who was to become a famous oriental alphabet type letter founder, an inhabitant of Transylvania, Satmar County, named Tótfalusi Kis Miklós who had finished the letters for the Armenian alphabet. The idea of a Georgian typography had been borrowed from the Armenian neighbours who had had typographies during the last decades of the 17th century. Unfortunately, Tótfalusi had left the Blaeu House. Immediately after his apprenticeship he started his own business for type letters and shortly became a powerful competitor to his former Master, earning a lot of money as well. The Blaeu House never dared - lacking good specialists -, to undertake Arcil's offer but directed it to Tótfalusi Kis Miklós' workshop. This happened before 1689, the year when Tótfalusi left Amsterdam for Transylvania. Back to Transylvania, his discontent arose further to being harrassed by the Reformed church - he himself was a protestant - that made him justify and defend against certain accusations. In a pamphlet called "For His Salvation" (Maga mentségében) he declared that he had founded letters both for Armenians and Georgians. We give hereunder the paragraph as Virgil Molin quoted: "These ones (Georgians) not having their own typography used only manuscripts, the same Gondolatok a könyvtárban " 99