Saturday, April 21, 2012

524-year-old Finnish book now readable in e-book form

The first book ever printed for use in Finland can now be read in digital format. 

The vividly-illustrated Catholic church missal printed for use in Turku, entitled "Missale Aboense", was printed in Lübeck, Germany in 1488 on both paper and parchment. 

The National Library of Finland has now made digital versions of all copies of the prayer book in its collection. 

The book includes valuable material for theological and cultural-history research. For instance, the Finnish edition of the standard Catholic prayer book includes reference to Saint Henry, an English priest who according to tradition came to Sweden in 1153 and was killed in Köyliö, Finland, three years later.

"Each diocese usually had its own version of this book which is used by all Catholic churches," explains Jussi Nuorteva, a doctor of theology and director general of the National Archives Service of Finland.

"In ours, for instance, you can see a listing for the feast day of Saint Henry, which was not really celebrated anywhere else in the Catholic Church. And it's interesting that no information about Saint Henry has been found in the Vatican's archives; that he was the patron saint of the Turku diocese," he adds.