''Primer with Various Instructions'' ( bg, Буквар с различни поучения, original spelling: БȢква̀рь съ разлѝчны поȢчѐніѧ, ''Bukvar s razlichni poucheniya)'', better known as the ''Fish Primer'' ( bg, Рибен буквар, ''Riben bukvar''), was a Bulgarian schoolbook, the first

primer Primer may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Primer'' (film), a 2004 feature film written and directed by Shane Carruth * ''Primer'' (video), a documentary about the funk band Living Colour Literature * Primer (textbook), a te ...

(and first book) printed in

modern Bulgarian Bulgarian (, ; bg, label=none, български, bălgarski, ) is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians. Along with the closely related Macedonian ...

. It is considered by an author to be the first Bulgarian

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

. The book was written and published by

Petar Beron Dr. Petar Beron ( bg, Петър Берон) (c. 1799, Kotel – 21 March 1871) was a Bulgarian educator. He created the first modern Bulgarian primer, known as the '' Fish Primer'' (Рибен буквар, ''Riben bukvar'') due to a dolphin ...

in 1824. It is one of the most significant secular works of the

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...

. It was the first secular publication in modern Bulgaria.

Background

The primer was a result of the increasing number of secular schools appearing in

Ottoman Bulgaria The history of Ottoman Bulgaria spans nearly 500 years, from the conquest by the Ottoman Empire of the smaller kingdoms emerging from the disintegrating Second Bulgarian Empire in the late 14th century, to the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878. As ...

, as well as Beron's own impressions of Western European systems of education. Until the late 18th century, most schools in Bulgaria were attached to

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

(so-called "Cell schools") and the curriculum virtually consisted of only a

Book of Hours The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscrip ...

, a

psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...

and the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...

. Students received their education in

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with standardizing the language and using it in translating the Bible and other ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, both of which were difficult to understand for those outside the clergy. Beron was aware that this type of education was inefficient, and modeled his ideas for the new Bulgarian schools along the

monitorial system The Monitorial System, also known as Madras System or Lancasterian System, was an education method that took hold during the early 19th century, because of Spanish, French, and English colonial education that was imposed into the areas of expansion. ...

and education in

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeat ...

. The primer was designed as a children's encyclopedia. It was published in the

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...

n city of Kronstadt in the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

(now

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census ( 2011), Brașov has a po ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

Description

The primer consists of ten sections: ''Foreword'', ''Primer'', ''Prayers'', ''Good advice'', ''Smart responses'', ''Fables'', ''Various stories'', ''Physical tales'' and ''Arithmetic''. All sections from ''Primer'' to ''Smart responses'' contain basic knowledge on language, religion and rhetoric; ''Fables'' includes most of Aesop's eponymous works, and the remaining sections are a collection of famous events from ancient history, studies on plants and animals and mathematical science. Some of the animals are illustrated in a compendium section. The primer earned its nickname, ''Fish Primer'', since one of these illustrations, a whale, appeared on the back of the original edition. The nickname, however, was erroneous, since whales are mammals, not fish. The book had an enormous impact on the National Revival and played a key role in laying the foundations of a modern, secular Bulgarian education.

References

External links

Complete online version
by the

World Digital Library The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress. The WDL has stated that its mission is to promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume ...

{{Authority control Bulgarian encyclopedias Alphabet books 1824 non-fiction books Children's encyclopedias Books about Bulgaria 19th-century encyclopedias Bulgarian books