The Image "Printing house of Brest" is devoted to the first printing house on the territory of modern Belarus, which was operating in the 1550s – 1570s. It is this printing house where the famous Brest Bible was printed in 1563.

In 1553, Mikalaj Radzivil Čorny founded the first printing house on the territory of Belarus, and Bibles and other Christian literature were supposed to be printed there.

One of the first books of the Brest printing house was "Small Catechism" (1553). This book was a popular presentation of the fundamentals of the Christian faith to adults and children.

Also, the famous "Cantional of Brest", or "Songs of Divine praises", was published in 1558 in the Brest printing house. It was the first music collection printed in Belarus. The cantional was compiled by Jan Zaremba, with the participation of Cypryjan Bazylik, and another well-known composer of the Reformation, Vaclaǔ from Šamatuly.

The publication of the Brest (or Radzivil) Bible in 1563 takes an important place in the history of book printing in Belarus. This Bible was just as good as the best European samples of the time.

Not only religious literature was printed in the Brest printing house. The treatise "Conversation of a Pole with a Licvin" and legal documents such as the "Articles of the Magdeburg Law" were published there, too.

Altogether more than 40 books with different content in different languages were published in the Brest printing house.

Publication date: 11.07.2019.

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