Đurađ IV Crnojević

Đurađ IV Crnojević (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Ђурађ Црноjeвић), the son to Ivan Crnojević, was the ruler of the Principality of Zeta between 1490 and 1496, the founder of the first printing house, and identified himself as the "Duke of Zeta". He was well known by his great education, knowledge of astronomy, geometry and other sciences.

During his short-term reign he became famous for making efforts to spread the cultural heritage rather than for his political successes. The Turks made him leave Zeta in 1496. Although he was removed from the historical scene, his books remained as a great contribution to the Montenegrin culture. With the help of Hieromonk Makarije he printed five books of big importance to the Montenegrin cultural heritage.

Crnojević Printing House

Among five major incunabula printed in the printing house of the Crnojevic family between 1493 and 1496 the most notable are "Oktoih the First Voice" (Oktoih prvoglasnik), "Oktoih the Fifth Voice" (Oktoih petoglasnik) and the "Psalter" (Psaltir sa posljedovanjem).

"Oktoih the First Voice" was the first book to be printed in Cyrillic letters. It was printed on January 17, 1494. 108 copies of this book survive. It contains 538 pages sized 29 x 21,6 cm. It is characterized by high quality and clean two-coloured printing, red and black, with nicely shaped letters and well placed banners and initials.These xylographic banners and initials are made in the spirit of Renaissance with a trace of old manuscript tradition. By the beauty of its graphic it is considered to be at the same level as Venetian productions of that time. The Djurdje Crnojevic Central National Library published 600 copies of "Oktoih the First Courier" in 1987.

"Oktoih the Fifth Voice", also printed in 1494, was the first illustrated South Slavic incunabulum. It was printed in 1494. Its fragments have been preserved. The longest one contains 37 pages.What makes this incunabula special are six xylographic illustrations. The artist who engraved them managed to put rather complex compositions with many characters on a relatively small space.

The Crnojevic Psalter was printed at Cetinje in 1495. It is not only of liturgical and conventional but also historical and literary significance. It is decorated with three engraved banners and 27 initials repeated 221 times. There are 36 complete and partial copies preserved. The Djurdje Crnojevic Central National Library published 650 copies of its photo-printed edition in 1986.

ee also

*House of Crnojević