Евангелие Учительное (Gospel Homiliary)

The Mamonich printing press operated in Vilnius between 1574 and 1628. In 1586, it obtained a charter from Stephen Báthory to publish books on religion and law in Church Slavonic, Greek and Russian, and to distribute them freely in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It published mostly secular textbooks and books of a religious nature for the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Uniates. The most prominent work it published was ‘The Third Lithuanian Statute’ of 1588 (three editions in the Ruthenian language in Cyrillic script, one edition in Polish). The press also worked on public contracts: it published the regulations of the Chief Tribunal of Lithuania, the rulers’ decrees, and other items. In total, the Mamonich printing press brought out 115 publications, of which 55 were in Cyrillic and 60 were in Latin script. The Uniate Basilian monks took over the press in 1628.

The Mamonichs published the ‘Instructive Gospel’ for Eastern Orthodox believers in 1595. This was a reference book for Eastern Orthodox priests to prepare Sunday sermons. The book is based on a collection of excerpts from and abstracts of works by John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria and other authors for Sunday gospel readings. Two editions of this book were published in the same year, with and without foliation (page numbers). The Ellex Valiunas collection has the rarer version, without foliation. Only 27 copies of the book are known worldwide.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album ARS LIBRI (2022). Compiler Algimantas Muzikevičius, text authors Algimantas Muzikevičius, Rolandas Gustaitis

The Mamonich printing press operated in Vilnius between 1574 and 1628. In 1586, it obtained a charter from Stephen Báthory to publish books on religion and law in Church Slavonic, Greek and Russian, and to distribute them freely in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It published mostly secular textbooks and books of a religious nature for the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Uniates. The most prominent work it published was ‘The Third Lithuanian Statute’ of 1588 (three editions in the Ruthenian language in Cyrillic script, one edition in Polish). The press also worked on public contracts: it published the regulations of the Chief Tribunal of Lithuania, the rulers’ decrees, and other items. In total, the Mamonich printing press brought out 115 publications, of which 55 were in Cyrillic and 60 were in Latin script. The Uniate Basilian monks took over the press in 1628.

The Mamonichs published the ‘Instructive Gospel’ for Eastern Orthodox believers in 1595. This was a reference book for Eastern Orthodox priests to prepare Sunday sermons. The book is based on a collection of excerpts from and abstracts of works by John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria and other authors for Sunday gospel readings. Two editions of this book were published in the same year, with and without foliation (page numbers). The Ellex Valiunas collection has the rarer version, without foliation. Only 27 copies of the book are known worldwide.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album ARS LIBRI (2022). Compiler Algimantas Muzikevičius, text authors Algimantas Muzikevičius, Rolandas Gustaitis