Τhe Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation inaugurates the new exhibition “Incunabula. Aspects of early Greek printing”. The exhibition will run through May 28.
A selection of 29 incunabula from the Historical Library of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation will be presented. These are either books printed in Greek, many of which are first editions of important works of classical literature, or Latin translations of Greek texts. The incunabula, the books from the first century of printing, hold a special place not only in the history of printing but also in the history of literature, economy, and culture in general. Greek incunabula in particular, although few in number, are extremely significant. The exhibition, through a brief presentation of all the different elements, both tangible and intangible, that form a book, aims to paint a complete picture of early printed Greek editions.
The exhibition is organised in sections discussing the origins of the printed book, the subjects of early printed Greek books, the people who collaborated in a printing house to obtain these results, the first Greek typefaces, the decoration and the binding of the books.
The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation has one of the largest collections of incunabula in Greece; its Historical Library boasts 63 titles, with a total of 65 incunabula, while the collection is continuously enriched with new acquisitions. Those incunable editions belong to the two most important collections of the Foundation’s Historical Library, namely the Bibliotheca Graeca of Athanassios Oikonomopoulos and the Collection of the Foundation’s President, Panagiotis Laskaridis.