Ivan Fedorov is rightfully considered the founder of Russian printing. However, not many people know that he had a faithful assistant Peter Mstislavets. Moreover, it was thanks to his efforts that the great master was able to complete his work on the new printing house.
Therefore, it will be fair to talk about who Peter Mstislavets was? What success did he manage to achieve? And what historical information has been preserved about him?
The birth of a great genius
It is difficult to say to which estate Peter Mstislavets belonged. The biography of this person due to a number of circumstances is poorly preserved. It is only known for certain that he was born at the beginning of the 16th century in the vicinity of Mstislav. Today this city is located in Belarus, and in the old days it was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
According to the chronicles, the young Peter’s teacher was Francis Skorin himself . This was a famous scientist and philosopher, who became the author of many scientific works. Even today, many Belarusians recall him as a great genius who was far ahead of his time. It was the master who taught his student the art of printing, which forever changed his fate.
Unexpected meeting
Historians still can not agree on why Peter Mstislavets went to live in Moscow. But it was here that he met with Ivan Fedorov, a famous Moscow deacon and bookwriter. At that time, Fedorov already had his own Printing House, but he needed urgent modernization.
Peter agreed to help a new acquaintance, since he liked this work. Therefore, at the beginning of 1563, they began to develop a new printing mechanism. This process lasted for a whole year, but at the same time it fully recouped all the efforts expended.
First Moscow Printing House
Their first work was the Orthodox book "Apostle", published on March 1, 1564. It was a copy of the famous spiritual publication used in those days for the training of clergy. Such a choice was quite obvious, since Peter Mstislavets and Ivan Fedorov were truly believing people.
In 1565, the masters released another Orthodox book called The Chapel. Their publication quickly flew around the districts, which greatly angered the local copyists of books. A new printing house threatened their "business", and they decided to get rid of the grief writers.
Leaving Moscow and establishing its own printing house
The bribed authorities accused Fedorov and Mstislavets of heresy and mysticism, because of which they had to leave their hometown. The benefit of inventors was gladly accepted by the Lithuanian hetman G.A. Khadkevich. Here, the masters built a new printing house and even printed one joint book called The Teaching Gospel (release year - 1569).
Alas, history is silent about why the paths of old friends diverged. However, it is reliably known that Peter Mstislavets himself left the printing house in Zabludovo and moved to live in Vilna. It should be noted that Peter did not waste time and soon opened his own workshop. The brothers Ivan and Zinovia Zaretsky and the merchants Kuzma and Luka Mamonichi helped him in this.
Together, they publish three books: The Gospel (1575), The Psalter (1576), and The Watchmaker (approximately 1576). The books were written in a new font developed by Peter Mstislavets himself. By the way, in the future, his creation will become a model for many evangelical fonts and glorify it among the clergy.
End of story
Sadly, the friendship of the new union did not last long enough. In March 1576, a trial was held at which the right to own a printing house was examined. By the decision of the judge, the Mamonichi brothers took all the printed books to themselves, and Pyotr Mstislavets was left with the equipment and the right to fonts. After this incident, the traces of the great master are lost in history.
Nevertheless, even today there are those who remember who Peter Mstislavets was. Photos of his books often appear on the headlines of the website of the National Library of Belarus, since it contains several copies of his works. And thanks to them, the glory of the book master shines as brightly as in the old days, giving inspiration to young inventors.