Blaž Baromić (before 1450 in

Vrbnik Vrbnik is a village and a municipality on the east coast of the island of Krk. The village is perched on a limestone outcropping 50 m above the Adriatic Sea. Vrbnik is naturally separated from mainland Croatia by the Vinodol Channel, where the to ...

– after 1505 in

Senj Senj is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. The symbol of the town is the Nehaj Fortress () which was completed in 1558. For a time this was the seat of the Uskoks, who were ...

) was a Croatian

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as ...

, founder of the

printing press in 1494, the second oldest Croatian printing press. He is also known for his special

typographic Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line spacing, letter spacin ...

set known as ''Baromić technique of refracted

ligature Ligature may refer to: Language * Ligature (writing), a combination of two or more letters into a single symbol (typography and calligraphy) * Ligature (grammar), a morpheme that links two words Medicine * Ligature (medicine), a piece of suture us ...

s'', unique among

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

Biography

The exact date and place of birth is unknown, but he is assumed to have been born in Vrbnik on the island of

Krk Krk (; ; ; ; archaic German: ''Vegl'', ; ) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. Krk is tied with Cres as the largest Adriatic island, depending o ...

. His first notable work is the Mavro

breviary A breviary () is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times. Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such as Aberdeen Breviar ...

from 1460, which he wrote and illuminated. Between 1484 and 1505, he served as a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of Senj.

Printing press

Shortly after, he became acquainted with the printing technology, for which he sought financial support in Senj. He then traveled to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

where he learned the printing process and acquired all the printing tools needed. In 1493, he also printed his first breviary, under the guidance of Andrea Torresani. Bbar1496sopc

In the following year, he founded the Senj printing press together with Silvester Bedričić and Gašpar Turčić. On August 7, 1494, the first work of the printing house was completed, a

glagolithic The Glagolitic script ( , , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed that it was created in the 9th century for the purpose of translating liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic by Saint Cyril, a monk fro ...

missal A missal is a liturgical book containing instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the liturgical year. Versions differ across liturgical tradition, period, and purpose, with some missals intended to enable a priest ...

, the second edition of the Missale Romanum. A further six titles were published before the press ceased operation in 1508. The most prominent of these was Spovid općena (1496), the first book printed in vernacular

Chakavian Chakavian or Čakavian (, , , proper name: or own name: ''čokovski, čakavski, čekavski'') is a South Slavic supradialect or language spoken by Croats along the Adriatic coast, in the historical regions of Dalmatia, Istria, Croatian L ...

dialect, and the only Croatian non-liturgical incunabula. He is known for creating a unique method of composite

s in printing; a technique of creating ligatures from fragments of letters which requires particular aesthetic sensitivity. This was taken from existing Glagolithic hand-written codices.

Footnotes

External links

Baromić, Blaž , Hrvatska enciklopedija
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baromic, Blaz People from Senj 15th-century Croatian writers 16th-century Croatian people Croatian printers Printers of incunabula Croatian typographers and type designers Year of birth uncertain

Biography

Printing press

See also

Footnotes

External links