The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation is glad to inaugurate the new exhibition “Incunabula. Aspects of early Greek printing”. A selection of rare books twenty-nine (29) incunabula from the Historical Library of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation will be presented. These are either books printed in Greek, many of which are first editions of important works of classical literature, or Latin translations of Greek texts. The incunabula, the books from the first century of printing, hold a special place not only in the history of printing but also in the history of literature, economy, and culture in general. Greek incunabula in particular, although few in number, are extremely significant. The exhibition, through a brief presentation of all the different elements, both tangible and intangible, that form a book, aims to paint a complete picture of early printed Greek editions.

The exhibition is organised in sections discussing the origins of the printed book, the subjects of early printed Greek books, the people who collaborated in a printing house to obtain these results, the first Greek typefaces, the decoration and the binding of the books.

The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation has one of the largest collections of incunabula in Greece; its Historical Library boasts 63 titles, with a total of 65 incunabula, while the collection is continuously enriched with new acquisitions. Those incunable editions belong to the two most important collections of the Foundation’s Historical Library, namely the Bibliotheca Graeca of Athanassios Oikonomopoulos and the Collection of the Foundation’s President, Panagiotis Laskaridis

 

Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, Historical Library

2nd Merarchias 36 & Aktis Moutsopoulou, Pireaus

For guided tours: tel. +30 210 4523937, ext. 104

Duration: Until 31 July 

Opening hours:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 10:00-17:00

Thurday: 10:00-19:00

Free admission

Paulus Venetus, Expositio in libros Posteriorum Aristotelis. Venice: Reynaldus de Novimagio & Theodorus de Reynsburch, 1477. First edition with impressive illumination which comprises a large initial ‘N’ on first leaf of text,
enclosing a gouache of an Aristotelian scribe

Musaeus, Opusculum de Herone et Leandro. Florence: Laurentius
(Francisci) de Alopa, Venetus, c. 1494. Editio princeps, edited by the great scholar Janus Laskaris, who also designed the font.