The Johannes Bocatius Public Library in Košice, which centenary was celebrated last year, has a rich collection of old prints from the 18th and 19th centuries. It also includes religious literature, such as prayer books, hymnals, catechisms, sermons and hagiographies. The iconographic motif of the Pieta, that depicts the Virgin Mary holding the martyred Jesus in her arms, was based on a gracious image from the monastery of Poor Clares in Bratislava. The woodcut illustration is part of “the Raga Rose” prayer book, beautified by devotional Prayers to Wondrous and Miraculous Images of the Virgin Mary. In 1846, the book was issued in Slovak in Levoča by the printing press of Johann Werthmüller and son.
It was widely used and was popular among Christians. It was re-issued many times and in addition to hymns and a calendar of saints, it contained numerous illustrations with religious and iconographic themes from pilgrimage sites in Hungary, Bohemia and Austria. The greatest emphasis was placed on gracious images of the Virgin Mary which, from the 17th century, played an important role in the process of recatholisation. The printer Johann Werthmüller began to work in Levoča in 1815 and he made a significant contribution to the development of book printing in the local area. To begin with he worked alone, but in 1844 he was joined by his son and the Johann Werthmüller and son printing press was born. This printing press worked until 1895 and played an important role in the Štúr movement in Levoča. Between 1848 and 1849, important historical works such as “Requests of the Slovak Nation” and many others were printed here. In total, this printing press produced more than 1,600 books.
Tomáš Ondrejšík
