A treasure from the underground storage and the library of Saint Salvatore Convent: our project “Books bridges of Peace” discovers never before seen printing presses, typefaces and the first book printed in Arab in Palestine

Surprising the new discoveries of the project “Books bridges of Peace”, headed by Professor Barbieri, director of the CRELEB centre – Holy Heart Catholic University of Milan- in collaboration with the Holy Land Custody and Pro Terra Sancta Association. In spite of the pandemic, the projects still brings up great results: see for example the online exhibition on the history of the typography workshop funded by the Franciscan friars in Jerusalem in 1847. Precious tomes retrieved from the archives of Saint Salvatore Convent, typefaces, printing presses are part of a cultural heritage, patiently and diligently recovered thanks to the help of many volunteers guided by a top-rated scientific committee and hosted by Pro Terra Sancta, now shared with the world. The main goal is to pass down to new generation the history and the identity of a charming, complex city and its innovative and entrepreneurial inhabitants. For the World Book Day 2021 we want to share with you the exiting news about the Franciscan Printing Press of Jerusalem with the help of Arianna Lionetti, enthusiastic PhD participating in the “Books bridges of Peace” project. 

Arianna, how comes that the Franciscan Printing Press was established so very late in comparison with the invention of printing?

“Actually Franciscan were thriving to open a Printing press from since the introduction of the printing invention to the world in order to autonomously print the booklets needed by parishes, by students and the seminar but in Jerusalem they were considered foreigners in a foreign country, a country under the control of the Ottoman Empire nonetheless. Muslims were always against the use of mobile typefaces printing and the reason why is pretty simple: Arab is transcribed with no vowels and during the mobile typefaces printing process there is a chance of a type moving. The pronunciation of words might be therefore changed and that means that you could possibly print, and then read, a blasphemy! In 1833, though, an illuminated Sultan agreeing with ideas spread by the French revolution, decided to give equality and freedom to his subjects regardless their religion, nationality and ethnicity. Consequently pressing had the green light but the friars, even if ready to open a typography, were short of cash. Luckily, the Commissariat of the Holy Land of Wien, recently –at the time- reopened, had a good amount of funds to invest. The friars of Saint Salvatore succeeded in persuading the Commissariat to send in Jerusalem a friar instructed in the best printing press laboratories of Austria, typefaces, ink, paper and a press. The printing master friar built a printing press in no time.”

Yet printing is a very complex process, how did he succeed in managing an entire workshop by himself?

 “From July 1846, when he arrived, to January 1847, when the workshop started printing, the printing master friar taught to adults and mostly young men from the orphanage the art of typography. It was a double level of instruction: on one side the typography printed the hymns and prayers for the churches, breviaries and theology volumes for the friars and the books for the schools, on the other hand young adults were taught a job in the workshop. In a city like Jerusalem, where there were not many typographies and the freedom of printing was something new, it meant that the young men could have a job easily. The impact on education was huge: after a while the Ottoman Empire warmed up to the idea of the Franciscan friars opening schools and in few years they were able to triplicate the number of institutes in the Holy Land. That also meant that the demand of books for students got higher: spelling books, calligraphy books, books for learning ABC and doing math, books on biblical stories marvellously illustrated for kids were very popular. It really was a virtuous cycle!”

The Franciscan Printing Press was a super active typography. Can we say that it was a pillar in Jerusalem’s entrepreneurial context?

“Absolutely. While the Franciscans were waiting for the funds needed to open up a printing press, in Jerusalem Armenians, Greeks and Jews already opened theirs. But their employees were coming directly from Europe. Franciscans, instead were the only ones employing Christian locals. It their competitors were having a hard time keeping up with orders because of the chronic lack of personnel, the Franciscan friars, forming the staff both in school and in the workshop, never stopped the production. The Franciscan Printing Press was a “revolutionary” typography: the first book being printed was Saint Bellarmino’s catechism both in Arab and in Italian. This booklet with few pages was the first book printed in Arab in Palestine. Not only the friars were the only ones printing in Arab but they also succeed in building a smithy for typefaces, they bought a chalcographic press for images, they learnt how to make lithography… from what in the beginning was only a small experiment, they made a high-rated typography workshop. High enough that, when the Brits arrived in 1917, drove off the young Turks and began their mandate, the Franciscan’s was the best printing press of Jerusalem, the one in charge of printing the proclamations hanged on the walls of the city.”

You told us about tomes, proclaims, presses and types. Where is this immense heritage preserved? Is it possible for the public to see it?

 “Almost all the production of the Franciscan Printing Press is in Saint Salvatore and I highly doubt that an Italian printing press or publishing house could brag about having an archive with all the volumes done from 1847 ‘till now. During the 50/60s this asset was partially forgot about but thanks to the project “Books bridges of Peace”, this heritage is now belonging to everyone. A big leap was the creation of a digital online catalogue. Academics studying the Holy Land from all over the world are very grateful for being able to consult the Franciscans’ catalogue from home. But it’s not all about books: in the storages we discovered printing machines from the 50s coming from Turin, Italy. The cast iron press from Wien dating to 1860, now in the entrance hall of the curia, is also gorgeous. They told me that, while they were moving it, as it’s impressively heavy, it fell and landed there disassembled. The positive outcome is that everybody can see it. One last oddity: the Franciscan Printing Press is actually still working, they simply moved it in Bethpage, few kilometers from Jerusalem. In the modern workshop they still use printing machines of the 50s, some Heidelberg models coming from a Berlin still dived by East and West from the wall. In conclusion, the Franciscan Printing Press testifies the bonds existing between the Holy Land and the world and its books, the first ones being printed in Arab, are truly bridges of Peace!”