[ATTRACTIVE COMMEMORATIVE BOOK OF THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN PRINTING & TYPOGRAPHY AND THE 1500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN ALPHABET] Տիպ ու տառ / Dib u dar: Girin tsagman ew mijazgayin u haykakan tpagrut'ean vray dzguats aknark me...

TEOTIG [TEOTOROS LAPÇINCIYAN] (1873-1928).

Hratarakut'iwn ew Tpagrut'iwn Vahramay ew Hrach'ei Ter-Nersesean, Constantinople, 1912.

COMPLETE TITLE: [ATTRACTIVE COMMEMORATIVE BOOK OF THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN PRINTING & TYPOGRAPHY AND THE 1500^TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN ALPHABET] Տիպ ու տառ: գիրին ծագման եւ միջազգային ու հայկական տպագրութեան վրայ ձգուած ակնարկ մը / Dib u dar: Girin tsagman ew mijazgayin u haykakan tpagrut'ean vray dzguats aknark me. [i.e., Type and letter: An overview of the origin of the letter, typography and international Armenian printing].

Contemporary olive-green cloth. Large roy. 8vo. (25 x 19 cm). In Armenian. 192 p., richly illustrated. Slightly wear to spine, some stains over the front board, unnumbered frontispiece is loosely inserted, ex-owner’s name gilt on the bottom of the spine, the title “Dib u Dar” gilt on a period label on the spine. Otherwise, a very good copy.

First edition of this richly illustrated commemorative book on the international history of Armenian printing, printers, publishers, and typography. Published to mark two significant milestones: the 500th anniversary of the first Armenian printed book, Urbatagirq (Book of Friday Prayers), printed by Hakob Meghapart in Venice in 1512, and the 1500th anniversary of the Armenian alphabet, devised in 405 by the scholar-monk Mesrop Mashtots in the cities of Edessa and Samsat. Printed on a special luxury ivory paper.

Type and Letter, published in 1912 by V. and H. Nersessian Press in Constantinople, commemorates the 400th anniversary of Armenian printing. This comprehensive work provides an extensive overview of Armenian printing history and script development, tracing its evolution from the invention of Armenian calligraphy to the early 20th century. The book begins with an introduction to global printing history from Gutenberg’s time before offering the first systematic survey of Armenian books published worldwide. It covers printing houses across Turkey (including Western Armenia), Russia (including Eastern Armenia), Venice, Asia, Europe, and the New World. Detailed descriptions are provided for Armenian printing establishments in major printing hubs such as Venice, Istanbul (with 187 printing houses), Izmir, Jerusalem, and numerous cities across the Ottoman Empire, Europe, and beyond including locations in Poland, Austria-Hungary, France, Iran, the Netherlands, Germany, the Great Britain, India, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, the United States of America, Egypt, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Switzerland, and Sweden. One of the book's most significant sections is its detailed exploration of Armenian typographic history and craftsmanship. This chapter is richly illustrated with visual material documenting various Armenian and Arabic letterforms designed by prominent Armenian printers. The book also includes brief biographies of significant Armenian publishers and printers, offering a valuable resource on the development of Armenian typography and book production worldwide.

“He [Teotig] gleaned information from various reference sources, as well as his own library, which contained well over 4,000 volumes. The rich content of the book has stood the test of the time as the product of a single-handed effort by an indefatigable amateur and connoisseur of Armenian books (he called himself madenamol, "bibliomaniac") that paved the ground for the next generation of trained scholars and bibliographers.” (The Armenian Weekly).

Teotoros "Teotig" Labdjindjian (1873-1928) was a renowned Armenian writer and publisher, best known for his annual Armenian-language almanac, which was published between 1907 and 1929, primarily in Constantinople. Born in Üsküdar (Scutari), a district on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, Teotig became an influential figure in Armenian literary and publishing circles. In addition to his almanac, he authored Golgotha of the Armenian Clergy, documenting the suffering of Armenian religious figures. Teotig himself was a survivor of the Armenian Deportations. Returning to Constantinople in 1922, he fled again during the Turkish nationalist occupation, joining other intellectuals such as Levon Tutundjian, Arshag Boyadjian, and Armenak der Hagopian. He travelled with Armenian orphans transported to Corfu by the Near East Relief, where he remained until at least 1925, actively publishing and corresponding with Tutundjian, who had moved to Lausanne. After Corfu, Teotig relocated to Nicosia and later to Paris, where he continued publishing his almanac, with later editions printed in Venice, Vienna, and Paris. He passed away in May 1928 while the 18th volume of his almanac which are his “paper children,” as he called them, was still in press.

OCLC 34826240 (more than ten institutional copies, however, commercially, it’s very rare).