Published | Parrésia - Ročenka pro východní křesťanství

The Art of the Armenian Book through the Ages / Հայ գրքարուեստը դարերու ընդմէջէն / Arménské knižní umění v průběhu staletí

Haig Utidjian

The present volume, published in connection with the Exhibition held in Prague’s Klementinum “The Art of the Armenian Book through the Ages: ‘They who imbibed the effusions of the Spirit’” in 2016, includes photographs and descriptions in English, Armenian and Czech of seventy-five publications and manuscripts selected and presented by Haig Utidjian.

There is an emphasis on early and rare publications, such as the magnificent editiones principes of the Armenian Bible, Hymnal and other liturgical volumes. The works of St. Gregory Narek and Armenian sacred music are particularly well covered. The author aims to present a most distinctive tradition ‒ one which succeeded in achieving a seamless combination of the best of contemporaneous European book illustration with elements of Armenian manuscript illumination; this may, in turn, serve as a metaphor for wider interactions in music and in spirituality, where too the Armenian tradition was enriched without losing its unique character. The volume includes substantial essays on a variety of related subjects, placing the exhibits in context, and also discussing Czech-Armenian literary interactions. The volume may be recommended as a handbook for researchers as well as a coffee-table volume for book lovers from all backgrounds ‒ not least those seeking an attractive and beautifully illustrated introduction to Armenian culture and spirituality.