The state of conservation of two copies of the Book of Hours (Ceaslov) printed in Dubasari (1794), found at Diocesan Museum in Husi

Abstract

Mihail Strelbitchi, bookbinder, refined engraver, and master printer, dominates the Moldovan typographic art from the 18th century. Among those several dozen works to which he contributed throughout his life, either as an engraver or as a printer, some are printed outside the borders of Moldova, respectively in Dubasari and Movilau. Book of Hours (Ceaslov) printed in Dubasari in 1794, where Strelbitchi settled his printing house for a short time, is a book in which he spreads countless elements of his graphic art: ornate letters, frontispieces, vignettes, and engravings bearing his signature. The Diocesan Museum in Husi has in its rich old book inventory two copies of Book of Hours (Ceaslov) printed at Dubasari. They are in a relatively good state of preservation, being kept almost entirely. No volume contains, however, the title page. The book is printed in Romanian, with Cyrillic characters. Both volumes are bound in brown leather, wooden boards, and metal locks, the leather being damaged The volumes lack support marks, having traces of a xylophagous attack. Some sheets are detached from the spine, which led to their embrittlement. All these degradations but also the value of the books themselves impose the need to restore these values of the Romanian typographic art.