History of Georgian book printing on display at Tbilisi archive

The history of Georgian book printing is the theme of a new exhibition unveiled in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi earlier today, with visitors invited to see the books and their origins at the National Archives of Georgia.

Opened at the exhibition pavilion of the archive venue, the display puts on display books published by 18th and 19th century printing houses from Tbilisi to Montauban, France.

The exhibits include books featuring both religious and secular texts, curated by organisers with the aim of illustrating the roots and development of Georgian book printing.

A Gospel book printed by the printing house of King Vakhtang VI of Georgia in 1709. Photo: National Archives of Georgia press office.

Beside the books themselves the display features photographs showing differing typefaces, covers and text art used for the publications by printing houses.

The latter are under a separate focus of the exhibition, which presents information on publishers who worked on the books in Georgia as well as abroad, including Constantinople, Venice and St. Petersburg.

The display comes as the National Archives professionals are currently carrying out a project involving a complete and detailed cataloguing of historical Georgian books.

The exhibition will illustrate differing typefaces and text art used in books by various printing houses. Photo: National Archives of Georgia press office. 

The cataloguing work has already revealed "significant information” on the print works and their stories from the publisher notes added during their original printing, said the Tbilisi venue.

The exhibition also coincides with World Book and Copyright Day on April 23; a date marked annually since its establishment by the UNESCO in 1995.

The National Archives exhibition will be open for visitors in Tbilisi through May 4.