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Glagolitic Alphabet

15/2/2013

2 Comments

 

Originally written and published 12 November 2012

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During a recent trip to Zagreb, I was fascinated to learn that a distinctive and decorative alphabet called Glagoljica (Glagolitic) exists that was used for centuries in Croatia before Roman lettering became dominant.
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Whilst strolling through the city, by chance I wandered into a souvenir shop that had many items on display adorned with various unusual letter shapes.  I thought they were ancient runes but the shop owner (who luckily spoke good English) showed me a poster she had for sale entitled “Glagoljica” and explained that they were letters from an old Croatian alphabet.

After spending some time discussing the script, she suggested I visit the Academy of Arts & Sciences nearby where I would find the most historically significant Glagolitic artefact : the Baščanska Ploča (Baska Tablet), a white limestone tablet dating from the early 12th century inscribed with this unique lettering.

It was easy enough to locate, housed in the Academy’s atrium on public view behind glass. It is a large and heavy stone, measuring roughly 2m x 1m and weighing in around 800kg, and was discovered in 1851 in the floor of Sv Lucija church near Baska on the island of Krk.
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Baska Tablet behind glass
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Section of Baska Tablet
After the tablet was found, it then took almost 25 years before a full translation was completed but, unfortunately, the subject matter was not very exciting – it commemorates a gift of land by King Zvonimir to the church and gives details of attendees at the presentation ceremony. However, that is not so important as its real value lay in its use as a resource for studying both the development of Glagolitic script as well as the Croatian language.
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Lettering in Zagreb Cathedral
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Baska Tablet on 100 kuna banknote
Of course, once I was acquainted with the style of lettering it began appearing everywhere in various forms and incorporated into many designs – logos, shopfronts, books, memorials.


The longest piece I found ran down an entire wall of Zagreb Cathedral.


And I saw it most often on the 100 kuna banknote.


There’s so much more information to discover about Glagolitic lettering and the Baska Tablet but I’ll have to leave that until my next trip to Croatia. In the meantime perhaps I can put my calligraphic skills to work and have a go at the lettering!


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Baska detail on 100 kuna banknote

The Croatian Academy of Art and Science website is here.
My heartfelt thanks to the lady who owns Gallery Gea, Radeceva 35, Zagreb.

2 Comments
GLUD
7/1/2015 03:58:16 am

Nice work with glagolitic letters, but a small mistake occurs. The letter shown is letter Đ, not letter J.
If you like, can visit me on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/GLUD/209590822551976.

Reply
Julie Chaney
9/1/2015 02:31:22 am

Thanks for the correction GLUD. Although the poster I've pictured relates glagolitic letters to the latin alphabet, it seems they can't be accurately married up. I've deleted the caption. Your FB page is interesting - this is clearly your area of expertise!

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    Julie Chaney

    This is a little corner where I like to share my love of calligraphy & letterforms and my fascination with the tools, materials & methods used to create and display them.  I also love patterns and carved faces!

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