Oktoih

See also: Oktoikh, 1491

Oktoih (Serbian/Montenegrin Cyrillic: Октоих), in English the Book of Psalms or Psalter, is an incunabula printed in Cetinje, Montenegro in 1494. Oktoih is a book of liturgical hymns for singing in eight parts. It was printed in the Printing House of Crnojevići by Đurađ IV Crnojević, an educated ruler of Montenegro (Then known as Zeta) from 1490-1496. Two volumes from 1493 and 1494 are kept in the museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.[1]

The book is the first printed Old Church Slavonic and in general in Cyrillic book. The book had 5 volumes, of which two are known and were printed in Montenegro.

Oktoih Prvoglasnik

Oktoih, the first voice (Oktoih prvoglasnik) was the first printed book using Cyrillic script. It was printed on January 17, 1494. 108 copies of this book survive. It contains 538 pages sized 29 x 21.6 cm. It is characterized by high quality and clean two-coloured printing, red and black, with nicely shaped letters and well placed banners and initials. These woodcut banners and initials are made in the spirit of the Renaissance with a trace of old manuscript traditions. In the beauty of its graphic it is considered to be at the same level as Venetian production at that time. The Central National Montenegrin Library "Đurđe Crnojević" (Cetinje,) published 600 facsimiles of Oktoih, the first voice in 1987.

Oktoih Petoglasnik

Oktoih, the fifth voice (Oktoih petoglasnik) represents the first illustrated South Slavic incunabula. It was printed in 1494. Its fragments have been preserved. The longest one contains 37 pages. What makes this incunabula special are six woodcut illustrations. The artist who made them managed to put rather complex compositions with many characters on a relatively small space.