Old and Rare Book

The Matica Srpska Library has an exceptionally valuable collection of old and rare books collected since its establishment. This collection has been expanded with special care throughout its long history.

The manuscript collection includes 707 items, 492 written in Cyrillic script. The oldest manuscript is Matičin apostol (The Apostolos of the Matica Srpska) written on parchment in the 13th century. It is the oldest preserved unabridged Apostolos in Serbian recension. Also, there are two manuscript fragments on parchment from the 13th century—Iriški odlomak apostolskih i jevanđeljskih čtenija (Fragment of the Holy Apostles and Gospel Readings from Irig) and Bjelopoljski odlomak izbornog jevanđelja i apostola (Fragment of an Aprakos and Apostolos from Bjelo Polje). There are two parchment manuscripts from the 14th century—Bečkerečki tipik (Typicon from Bečkerek) and a fragment of Četvorojevanđelje (Tetraevangelion). Psaltir Gavrila Trojičanina (Psalter of Gavrilo Trojičanin) is one of the best handwritten and illuminated books in the Library. It was copied in the Holy Trinity Monastery near Pljevlja in 1643. Another beautifully handwritten and illuminated manuscript is Stihologija (Stichologion) and it was copied at the beginning of the 18th century in Szentendre by Kiprijan Račanin or Cyprian of Rača, the famous scribe and illuminator belonging to the circle of scribes from the Rača Monastery. Among the most valuable manuscripts in the Matica Srpska Library, there are also copies of Dušanov zakonik (Dušan’s Code), the most important Serbian legal monument, enacted at two legislative assemblies, in 1349 and 1354, then Molitvenik Jovana Rajića (Prayerbook of Jovan Rajić) from 1749, the first preserved book of that author, Pesmarica (Songbook) by Avram Miletić, 1778–1781, the most significant and most important collection of Serbian civil poetry, and others.

The Matica Srpska Library owns 17 incunables—books printed before 1500. Two of them are tied to other publications. The oldest book in the collection is Oktoih prvoglasnik (Octoechos, first voice) printed in 1493 and 1494 in the printing shop of Đurđe Crnojević in Cetinje, Montenegro. It is the first Serbian incunable and the oldest Cyrillic South Slavic printed book. Other incunables are in foreign languages, and among them there is a rather rare edition of the then popular title Sermones quadragesimales by Roberto Caracciolo in Latin language (Venice, 1473), then sonnets of Petrarch in Italian (Venice, 1478), Schedelsche Weltchronik (Schedel’s World Chronicle) in German (Augsburg, 1496), and Cosmographia by Claudius Ptolemy (Ulm, 1486) in Latin.

There are very valuable books from the 16th and 17th centuries, written in various languages, 42 of which are Elzevir-type books. There are 186 books from this period printed in Cyrillic script, 157 of which are Serbian. The Matica Srpska Library owns the world’s richest collection of Serbian books produced between the 15th and 17th centuries.

The Apostlos of Matica srpska from the 13th century

Oktoih prvoglasnik (Octoechos) of Djurdje Crnojevic printed in 1493/94

The Library also owns the largest collection of Serbian books from the 18th century (529 books including 19 menologia), the largest collection of 19th-century Serbian books (over 5,000 items), and the richest collection of Serbian periodicals from the 18th and the first half of the 19th century. Among the others, there are Slavenosrpski magazin (Slavonic-Serbian Magazine) by Zaharija Orfelin, published in 1768 as the first Serbian journal; complete volumes of the first Serbian newspaper published in Vienna by brothers Markides Puljo in 1791–1792; complete volumes of the next-in-line Serbian newspaper, published in Vienna by Stefan Novaković in 1792–1794; all issues of Letopis Matice Srpske (Matica Srpska Chronicle), the oldest Serbian and South Slavic living literary journal, published first in 1824, as well as many other journals and newspapers. The Library owns valuable collections of the eighteen- and nineteen-century books in foreign languages, among which the collections in Hungarian and Russian are especially rich.

The Matica Srpska Library has arranged the oldest Serbian school library in Sremski Karlovci Grammar School into a museum-type library (about 18,000 items) and the Bačka Eparchy Library in Novi Sad (over 6,000 items arranged). Together with the National Library of Serbia, the Matica Srpska Library has arranged the Museum of Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Buda in Szentendre and the Serbian treasury of the Hilandar Monastery.

The Collection of Rare Books

The collection of rare books includes books with dedications, signatures and notes of significant figures in history, science, and culture. There are also books with seals, books of special technical and artistic value, books printed in a small number of copies, as well as illegal and war periodicals.

The Library publishes three series of printed catalogues: Ćirilske rukopisne knjige Biblioteke Matice srpske (Old Cyrillic Manuscript Books in the Matica Srpska Library) (first volume published in 1988), Katalog starih i retkih knjiga Biblioteke Matice srpske  (Catalogue of Old and Rare Books in the Matica Srpska Library) (since 1994), and Katalog legata Biblioteke Matice srpske (Catalogue of Legacies in the Matica Srpska Library) (since 1995). 

Old and rare books are stored in a special storeroom and are available to readers only in a special Rarities Reading Room. Their restoration, conservation, microfilming, and digitization have been performed according to the Programme for Preservation of Old and Rare Publications.

LEGACIES

Personal libraries and libraries of different institutions and societies, which number about 100,000 books, have a special cultural, historical, and museum value. The library of Bishop Platon Atanacković, received in 1841, is the oldest personal library. Today, it contains 341 books. The most valuable one is the personal library of Sava Tekelija, one of the greatest endowers and benefactors of the Serbian people, with 1,984 books in 15 languages. In the reconstructed library of Tekelianum, there are 7,114 books in various languages. 

The following personal libraries are kept as separate units in the Matica Srpska Library: the Aleksijević Family, Stanislav Bajić, Berislav M. Berić, Slavko and Katarina Borojević, Vitomir Vuletić, Milan S. Dimitrijević, Raško Dimitrijević, Avram Đukić, Miroslav Egerić, Vasilije Jovanović, Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, Stevan Josifović, Dragan Klaić, Mita and Predrag Klicin, Vojislav Voki Kostić, Marko Maletin, Nicole and Sreten Marić, Svetozar Matić, Dejan Medaković, Đoka Mijatović, Živan Milisavac, Milenko Milošević, Kosta Milutinović, Ljubica Miljković, Borivoj Mirosavljević, Milica Mitrović, Radoslav Mitrović, Tihomir Ostojić, Vladimir Otović, Boško Petrović, Petar Popadić, Dušan Popov, Jovan Popović, Radomir Radujkov, Aleksandar Sandić, Vasa Stajić, Stojan Subotin, Ivan Subotić, Božidar Timotijević, Miroljub Todorović, Dr Irinej Ćirić and Stevan Ćirić, and Mirko and Ruža Cvetkov. The donation of Nicole and Sreten Marić (about 13,000 books) has arrived to the Library since 1989. The Matica Srpska Library also has in its possession the library of the Serbian Orthodox Great Grammar School in Novi Sad (founded in 1819) which includes 12,000 books, the collection of books belonging to the Serbian United Youth, as well as the valuable library of Sterijino Pozorje (important theatre festival in Novi Sad) which includes books on history and theory of theatre and drama. Donated Library of Austria with more than 5,100 monographs has been stored in the Matica Srpska Library since 1998. Donated Library of Austria contains about 130 titles of periodicals, mainly in the field of culture and literature. In 2016, the Library received as a gift the valuable collection of Borivoje Mirosavljević, a journalist and photographer from Novi Sad.

Old and rare books and legacies have been catalogued in the Department of Old and Rare Books and Legacies. In addition to the classic card catalogue, there has been an electronic catalogue since 1992, where the records of old and rare books can be found.

The Privileges of Maria Theresa of Austria, copy from 1774

The first Serbian newspaper from 1791

From Gavrilo Trojicanin’s Psalter, 1643