Two reproductions of the Missal and some early publications part of the Library’s archive by Matrenga, Budi, Bogdani and Variboba are also being displayed in the exhibition
TIRANA, Nov. 12- The first book written and published in Albanian, a 188-page translation of the Catholic missal, of the mid 16th century has arrived from the Vatican archives to be displayed in Tirana at the National Library as part of events commemorating the centenary of independence. Speaking at the exhibition’s inauguration ceremony this week, Aurel Plasari, the head of the National Library described the arrival of the arrival of the Missal, known as Meshari in Albania, a historic event and a dream for a series of generations. Two reproductions of the Missal and some early publications part of the Library’s archive by Matrenga, Budi, Bogdani and Variboba are also being displayed in the exhibition which will remain open from November 12 to 28.
Thanking the Holy See and the Vatican Library for having stored the book in centuries, Prime Minister Sali Berisha said “the Missal unveils that the Albanian nation at that time inspired by Renaissance authors in Italy and around the world, embarked on a powerful movement of national identity through language”
Albanian bishops also visited the exhibition. Archbishop Angelo Massafra, President of the Albanian Episcopal Conference stressed the importance the Catholic Church to contribution to society and the preservation of its identity even through culture and language. The book was discovered in 1740 by Skopje bishop Gjon Nikolla Kazazi.
“Since the frontispiece and the first sixteen pages of the only copy of the book we possess, preserved in the Vatican Library, are missing, we unfortunately know neither its exact title nor its place of publication. In Albanian, it is known simply as the Meshari (The Missal), and was written in 1555. The scant information we do possess about the author comes from the colophon (postscript) of the missal which Buzuku wrote himself in Albanian, not unaware of the historic dimensions of his undertaking,” says Albanian studies specialist Robert Elsie.
