RARITIES

Old and Rare Book

One of the special and valuable collections within the library of the Bosniak Institute is the collection of old and rare books. It consists of approximately 5,000 publications printed between the 16th and 19th centuries. These titles are valuable, significant, and unique not only because of their age but also due to their fascinating content, translations, special editions, and rarity.

This collection includes works by both foreign and local authors, written in various languages such as Latin, Arabic, German, French, and Hungarian. It features interesting and rare works from diverse fields, including religion, travel, history, as well as law, linguistics, botany, zoology, and more. Notably, the collection also contains some of the oldest printed books from the 16th century, following the incunabula period.

Among the old and rare editions by foreign authors, noteworthy examples include the first Hungarian translation of the Bible, Szent Biblia from 1590; Chronology of the Entire World by Marcus Zeurius van Boxhorn (Marci-Zueri Boxhorni chronologia praecipuorum universi orbis imperiorum) from 1677; and Historia Saracenica, authored by Al-Makin in 1625, based on the Persian writer Al-Tabari. Historia Saracenica represents the first translation of an Arabic text of that era, rendered into Latin by Thomas Erpenius (Thomas Van Erpe).

The Bosnica Department houses most of the editions of old and rare books.

One such example is Overview of the Antiquities of the Bosnian Province - Epitome Vetustatum Bosnensis Provinciae, authored by Franciscan Filip Lastrić and published in Ancona in 1776. This work discusses the Bosnian Province, its origins, composition, privileges, and gifts received, destroyed monasteries, lists of vicars, provincials, and bishops, as well as Bosnia and its kings. It is significant as it establishes Filip Lastrić as one of the pioneers of modern Bosnian historiography.

Other notable works include Origine della Provincia Bosna-Croatia (1648) by Franciscan Franjo Galvinić, which explores the history of Bosnia and its rulers, and De Regno Bosniae Ejusque Interitu Narratio Historica (1781), published in Venice by Pruentius Narentinus (Luka Vladimirović). De Regno Bosniae Ejusque Interitu Narratio Historica focuses on the Bosnian Kingdom, lists of nobility, and the origins of the Vladimirović lineage. Luka Vladimirović (1718–1788), a Franciscan, is among the first authors to write about the Bosnian Kingdom.

This valuable collection was created through the meticulous and long-term efforts of Adil Zulfikarpašić and his wife Tatjana. Today, as part of the Bosniak Institute library, it represents a significant segment of Bosnia and Herzegovina's heritage.

Materials from this collection are cataloged in the EOS Web system and can be accessed via our online catalog.

Some of these materials are available in full-text format for free access and are linked to the online catalog of the Bosniak Institute library.