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Bulgaria joins World Book and Copyright Day

Chasoslovets (Book of Hours) of Jakov Krajkov
Photo: nationallibrary.bg

On April 23, the world celebrates Book and Copyright Day. It was designated by a UNESCO decision in 1995. About 10,000 books are published annually in Bulgaria, according to NSI data.

It is interesting to note that the first printed book by a Bulgarian printer was published in the 16th century. Its publisher was Jakov Krajkov, born at the foot of the Osogovo Mountain in the family of a priest.

In 1519-1520, the Serbian Božidar Vuković founded the largest Slavic Cyrillic printing house in Venice known as the Vuković printing house. Jakov Krajkov rented it in 1566 and in the same year he printed his first book - "Chasoslovets" (Book of Hours), says on its website Bulgaria's National Library "St. St. Cyril and Methodius". 

Today, the 16th-century Venetian edition occupies a special place in the library's book treasury.



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