GPBA Catalogue for Frankfurter Buchmesse 2017
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Mamuka Khantadze Director of Publishing Studies Centre he history of Georgian book The Iberian or Georgian Al- printing dates back to the phabet with Prayers was time when King Teimuraz I, published in the same year. a great patron of literacy, a Francesco Maria Maggio’s poet himself and admirer The Georgian Grammar of European culture, sent was published in 1643 by his ambassador to Rome the same printing houseIn to try to secure protec- 1710 Anthim the Iberian, a Ttion from constant attacks theologian, scholar, callig- from Persia and the Otto- rapher, philosopher, one of man Empire. The most not- the greatest ecclesiastic ed achievement of Nice- figures of Wallachia, Mitro- foro Irbachi (1585-1658, or politan of Bucharest, print- Nikoloz Irubakidze-Cholo- ed the Gospels in the Geor- kashvili), the ambassador gian language. to the Vatican, was the printing of the first Geor- The first printing house in gian book. Interestingly, Tbilisi, Georgia was estab- the shapes and outlines of lished in 1709 initiated by the first printed script for King Vakhtang VI, a notable the publication were copied legislator, scholar, critic, from the letter sent by Tei- translator and poet. He in- muraz I to the Pope. In 1629 vited eminent translators, the Sacred Congregation editors, grammar special- of Propaganda printed the ists, lexicographers, paint- Georgian-Italian Diction- ers and graphic designers ary compiled by Stefano of the time to ensure that Paolini to be used by the the standards were high missionaries sent by the in his printing house. The Catholic Church to Geor- publications still amaze to- gia. Using moveable type, day: Publishers and Booksellers in GEORGIA * The Gospels, 302 pp., Although the origins03 of the format 26,5 x 18,5 Georgian alphabet are not * The Acts, 442 pp., completely finalized, it is format 27 x 19 widely accepted that it is one of the most perfect * The Psalms, 292 pp., scripts used in the world format 11 x 8. today because its distin- guishing criterion insist- The Condac ently assigns letters to both consonants and vow- published in 1710 els on an equal basis. Con- is printed using sidered to be descendant of the Semitic or Phoenician two Georgian alphabet (following the alphabets: consonantal writing sys- tem), the Georgian script Nuskha-Khutsuri, added vowels inspired by or cleric, the Greek alphabet. At the principally used in moment it is accepted that the first Georgian script hagiography, and adopted the 22-consonant Mkhedruli, or civic, system of the Semitic al- phabet, but supplemented as well as the it with vowels and designed Greek and Latin more letters to denote the distinctive sounds of the Stefano Paolini, Georgian-Italian Dictionary, Georgian-Italian Dictionary, Paolini, Stefano 1629 in Italien, Rome, Title Page alphabets. Georgian language. One of the notable piec- es of information about the writing system of the Kartvelian people (or Geor- gians) is given in Apollo- nius Rhodius’ The Argo- nautica. Argus, one of the characters, instructs the sailors heading for Colchis, telling them about how the capital city of Aea was founded by king Aeetes of Colchis, and that the locals have preserved their an- cient records of the roads and lands and seas. Iakob Tsurtaveli wrote his volvement of feudal lords04 hagiographic masterpiece in production of handwrit- The Passion of Queen Saint ten books as well as their Shushanik in the 5th centu- copying. The book became ry, the literary and ideolog- the main feature of the ical aspects of which impel country’s prosperity and many scholars to think that an expression of its cultur- the Georgian language and al status. Such an attitude script were developed well led to emergence of a wide before his time. variety of manuscripts, differing by their shape, The Georgian handwritten design and function. Ul- books were not created in timately, it means that isolation from the world civilization. In order to bet- ter adopt and spread Chris- tianity, Georgian scholars turned their attention to the major Christian cen- tres as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries. And later, in the medieval times as well, the development took a parallel course to those of the Eastern Christian world – Syria-Palestine and Con- stantinople through close cultural links. The long history of pro- ducing handwritten books in Georgia was constantly alongside books designed enriched by the contem- specifically for monaster- porary cultural influences ies and clergy, there ap- regarding its diverse edu- peared highly ornate man- cational benefits, as well uscripts for personal use of as its highly ornate design the privileged circles. and other aspects known through the medieval The medieval Georgian times. education and literature focused not only on the The importance of mo- cultural and political mat- nastic life for the country ters of the Christian coun- determined an active in- try and the corresponding The Knight in the Panther Skin; Tiflis, 1712 in the Panther The Knight Publishers and Booksellers in GEORGIA aspects of statehood, but Without any exaggeration,05 on discovering and study- the influence of The Knight ing the written culture of in the Panther Skin on the its nearest Islamic coun- medieval as well as modern tries such as Persia. Georgian literature is hard to overestimate. Rusta- At present there are near- veli’s epic has always been ly 11,000 Georgian manu- a powerful inspirational scripts of the period kept in source being considered to Georgia as well as in many be an ideal piece of poetry, significant libraries round the highest poetic standard the world. to be followed. The 12th century The first Georgian news- paper Sakartvelos Gazeti epic masterpiece published in 1819 was the The Knight in the first periodical in the en- tire Transcaucasia as well Panther Skin by as the first non-Russian Shota Rustaveli newspaper in the Empire. was printed in The first Georgian liter- Tbilisi in 1712. ary magazine Tsiskari (Sunrise) was published The exceptional impor- in 1852 in Tbilisi, its edi- Samples of georgian fonts of linotype, 1940 Samples of georgian fonts tance of the epic poem is tor was Giorgi Eristavi, the reflected in the fact that it is often referred to as the Second Bible of the Geor- gians. It used to be an in- dispensable item in a young woman’s dowry for many centuries, some verses were sung at wedding par- ties and other social oc- casions. There were some who could not only quote long passages but recite the whole poem. Even on battlefields, some poet- ic lines assumed patriotic significance, encouraging the fighters to defend their homeland. founder of the new Geor- brothers Enpenjiants was06 gian theatre. The works of opened in 1846, followed by many eminent writers and G. Berenstam’s in 1857 and public figures were pub- Ter-Mikaelian’s bookshop lished in the magazine for in 1863. the first time, among them Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani, The first Davit Guramishvili, Nikoloz Baratashvili, Ilia Chavcha- centralized book vadze, Akaki Tsereteli, distribution Mamia Gurieli, Grigol Orbe- liani and others. organization in Tbilisi was A group of Georgian women writers (Ekaterine Gabash- established in vili, Ekaterine Melikishvili 1872. The impact and Elene Kipiani) trans- on the capital was lated the works of popular foreign writers of the time practically instant: and initiated the publi- there were 37 cation of the book for the general public. bookshops in 1889 and 56 in 1899. In 1881 the Censorship Committee received a In 1888 Grigol Charkviani catalogue of all Georgian published the first free books published from 1629 catalogue of his book stock to the date. Initiated by a which was supplemented group of Georgian publish- by a list of all the towns and ers (Shamshiev, Kheladze villages where one could and Melikishvili), the cat- buy Georgian books. alogue listed the books in the chronological order of From 1629 to 1920 when their publication and in- Georgia lost its short-lived cluded 556 titles, among independence from the them 116 theological, 181 Russian Empire, there were scientific books and 269 974 book publishers and fiction. printing houses. In the pe- riod Georgian books were A shop selling books among published in Rome, Berlin, other goods was opened Baku, Constantinople, Lon- in the 1820s near the Sioni don, Moscow, St. Peters- Cathedral in Tbilisi, while a burg, Paris, Istanbul, etc. proper bookshop run by the Publishers and Booksellers in GEORGIA The first printers and pub- The first multi-volume07 lishers were: Kristepore Georgian encyclopedia saw Kezherashvili, Kristepore light in the 1970s. The Na- Guramishvili, Giorgi Pa- tional Library was estab- ichadze, Mirza Muhammed lished in 1946 on the basis Bakir ul-Tiflizi (who had of the previously existing a printing house in Bagh- Tiflis Public Library, as dad, publishing books for well as the Georgian Book Georgian Muslims), Roma- Chamber. noz Zubashvili, brothers Arzanov, Ekvtime Kheladze One of the first independ- (initiated by the GPBA, ent Georgian publishing one of the streets in Tbili- houses Azri and Paata si was named after him in Natsvlishvili Publishing 2017), Kotsia Tavartkiladze, were established in 1993. Ivane Kereselidze, Grigol Charkviani, etc. The Georgian Publishers’ Association was founded in 1996, which later trans- 93,659 titles formed into the Georgian were published Publishers and Book- sellers’ Association. In in Georgia in the the same year the latter Soviet period launched the Tbilisi Inter- national Book Fair, which (1921-1990). has become a regular cul- The leading tural event since then. publishers were: Since 1998 Ivane Javakh- Merani, Sabchota ishvili State University of- fers a BA course in publish- Sakartvelo, ing industry. Nakaduli, In 2018 Georgia is invited Ganatleba, as a guest of honour to the Khelovneba, Frankfurter Buchmesse.