APOSTLE

“The Apostle” 1574 is the first accurately dated book, that was published on the territory of modern Ukraine. The publication was published in Lviv, in the printing house of Ivan Fedorov (Fedorovich), a Russian and Ukrainian first printer. By its content it is "Apostolic Acts and Epistles". The font, composition of typing and decoration of the book almost completely repeats the Moscow "Apostle" (1564). However, the Ukrainian first printing was additionally supplemented by the printer's speech, which describes the history of the founding of his printing houses in Moscow, Zabludiv and Lviv. The edition is decorated with numerous initials, ornaments and extremities, and also with three illustrations: 1) the coat of arms of Hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Hryhoriy Khodkevych (p. 1 n.c.); 2) the image of the apostle Luke in the architectural frame (p. 2 c.); 3) Ivan Fedorovich's stamp with the font signature "Ioann Fedorovich the Moskvit printer" (Article 264).

Today we know about 118 saved copies and two fragments of this edition.

In the Department of Manuscripts and Old Books at Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum in Lviv there are 4 copies of the Lviv 1574 "Apostle" by Ivan Fedorovich. They all were in use in the territory of Galicia (present-day Lviv and Ternopil regions (Ukraine) and Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Poland)). The books were used during worship at local temples, as evidenced by the corresponding extreme records.

A representative copy of “the Apostle” in 1574 (sdk-1482) contains a record in 1604 of giving a book to the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Korenytsia (now in Jarosław County Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland).

On May 8, 1911, “the Apostle”, along with five other printed materials, were purchased to the National Museum in Lviv from the mentioned temple for 45 crowns and 82 cruisers.

Olha Tkachuk, Head of the Department of Manuscripts and Old Books, Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum in Lviv.

From the collection of Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum in Lviv.