899 - Europe - Romania - Liturghie (Sluzhebnik). A collection of liturgical texts in Romanian, typeset in Cyrillic. Includes 4 woodcut illustrations and other decorative elements. Râmnic, printed by the monk-priest Grigorij at the Afanasievici Episcopal Press, October 15–December 31, 1767 (Kaymak of Wallachia: Alexandru II Gica; Bishop: Parthenius). 1 leaf; leaves 1–9, 13, 16–28, 32–204. 21.5 x 16.5 cm. Contemporary blind-stamped leather binding over wooden boards (some missing leather, without clasps).

Europe - Romania - Liturghie (Sluzhebnik). A collection of liturgical texts in Romanian, typeset in Cyrillic. Includes 4 woodcut illustrations and other decorative elements. Râmnic, printed by the monk-priest Grigorij at the Afanasievici Episcopal Press, October 15–December 31, 1767 (Kaymak of Wallachia: Alexandru II Gica; Bishop: Parthenius). 1 leaf; leaves 1–9, 13, 16–28, 32–204. 21.5 x 16.5 cm. Contemporary blind-stamped leather binding over wooden boards (some missing leather, without clasps). BRV II, 350. An important missal of the Wallachian Orthodox Church. This two-color edition brings together the liturgies of St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil of Caesarea, and the Liturgy of St. Gregory the Dialogist (the Liturgy of the Early Offered Gifts), along with texts from the Trebnik, including some notable rules (e.g., “on second marriages and, if necessary, third marriages”). It was published during the Ottoman administration of Wallachia, and the Cyrillic script previously used for printing in the Romanian language was increasingly confronted with a growing number of Latin-script prints. The woodcut book decoration features numerous initials (mostly in cinnabar), 5 or 6 headpieces from 2 different plates, and 3 closing vignettes. No engraver is documented for the 4 illustrations. Typographic ornaments were arranged into borders; some idiosyncratic symbols (e.g., fol. 72) appear in the text. - Endpapers consist of leaves from another two-color print (presumably from the same period). Both these endpapers and several pages of the volume contain numerous handwritten notes from the period (mostly in Cyrillic). - The title page and 8 folios in the present pagination are missing, as well as half of folio 77; two leaves (53 and 56) with losses at the bottom, along with other minor losses. The paper is yellowed and partly soiled or heavily stained; there are numerous local scuffs and tears. *