20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

The distribution of the Minee of Buda throughout Moldavia... 53The rash reading of some texts and the insufficient studying of historicalsources has led to the advancement of some erroneous considerations andspeculations concerning the Minee that were printed in Buda. Thus, somehave stated that the Archbishop of Argeş asked for the issuance of 1000copies destined for Wallachia. Moreover, there were rumours concerningthe existence of an order of 150 sets (=1800 copies) of Minee for Moldavia,with a total value of 13400 florins 2 , and this assertion induced speculationsconcerning the issuance of a third edition, meant for Moldavia 3 .Starting with the analysis of the book trade among the Romanianprincipalities and of the connections between those involved in the issuanceof the Minee of Buda, we will reprise the matter of the editions and wewill depict the distribution channels of the Minee throughout Moldavia,the selling prices and the owners of these beautiful books. The study isbased upon various works concerning the history of books, print, trade,the Church and the Romanian literature at the end of the 18th century andthe beginning of the 19 th century, and also upon studies about Ioan PiuariuMolnar, archive documents and book annotations.The issuance of the Minee of Buda in 1804-1805 was the result of anample cooperation that spread for over two decades, between TransilvaniansIoan Piuariu Molnar, as editor and Hagi Constantin Pop, a trader from Sibiu,on one side, and Iosif, the Bishop of Argeş and other Moldavian hierarchs,on the other. The documents dating from that period suggest the terms ofthe “partnership” between Iosif the Bishop, Doctor Ioan Piuariu Molnar andHagi Constantin Pop’s house of trade. Bishop Iosif revised the manuscriptsfrom a canonical point of view and also had the mission to facilitate theprints’ distribution throughout Wallachia and Moldavia. It appears that itwas Doctor Molnar who contributed with most of the capital, while therest was provided by Hagi Constantin Pop’s house of trade. Moreover, thetrader from Sibiu took it upon himself to hire the presses that would edit thebooks, to attend to the purchase of the necessary materials (paper, letters,ink etc.), to find the most skilled workers, to pay for and to attend to the1960, Date noi privitoare la Ioan Piuariu-Molnar, in "Studii. Revistă de istorie",no. 1, year XIII, 90; Ioan Bianu, Nerva Hodoş 1910, Bibliografia românească veche(BRV), tom. II (1716-1808), Bucureşti, 449-450, 456; Dan Râpă-Buicliu 2000,Bibliografia românească veche. Additamenta I (1536-1830), Galaţi: Alma Press, 354;Dorin Teodorescu 2008, Lămurirea problemei Mineelor de Buda din 1804-1805, in vol.Valori bibliofile din patrimoniul cultural naţional, Craiova: Alma Press, 313-315.2Dan Râpă-Buicliu, op. cit., 354-356, even consideres it "a first run (of 1000copies) on June 12, 1804, for churches in Wallachia, specifically asked for by the ierarchfrom Argeş".3Dorin Teodorescu, op. cit., 313-315.