Schweipolt Fiol

Schweipolt Fiol (also Sebald Vehl or Veyl; – 1525 or 1526) was a German-born 15th century pioneer of Cyrillic printing. Fiol spent a considerable part of his life in Poland, particularly Kraków, the capital of the Polish Kingdom at the time. The city was famous for its university. The burgeoning of the arts and sciences contributed to the early emergence of book printing here: as early as 1473–1477 there was a print shop in Kraków, which published numerous theological works. The very first book printed in Cyrillic script, Oktoikh (Octoechos), was published by Fiol in 1491 in Kraków.

Fiol worked as a mining engineer and jeweler, and then took over a print shop. It is this print shop, owned by Fiol, which first published in Cyrillic such religious books as Eastern Slavic editions of Horologion, Octoechos, and the two Triodi.

Biography The exact date of his birth is unknown. He was born in Neustadt an der Aisch in Franconia. He moved to Kraków in 1479 and was soon enrolled in a department of Goldsmiths. He worked as a gold embroiderer .

On March 9, 1489, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir issued Fiol the privilege to the invention of a machine for pumping water from mines.

Famous German poet and humanist Conrad Celtis, lived in the years 1489–1491 in Kraków, and in his works, supported Fiols' publishing. In July 1491 Fiol pleaded with Mr. Otto for money.

His printing of Eastern Slavic Orthodox books led him into conflict with the Catholic Church authorities in Kraków. The book printer was arrested at the start of November 1491 under a fabricated charge of Hussite heresy. He was released on November 21, with a bail of 1000 gulden and a guaranty by two affluent Kraków citizens. He was arrested again in the beginning of 1492.

On January 13, 1492, the Archbishop of Gniezno had recommended him to refrain from sharing and printing Ruthenian books. Fiol was released in June 1492. He was found not guilty, but had to sign a document stating that he would cease his printing of Cyrillic books. Afterwards he discontinued his work as a printer and left Kraków. Since Małgorzata is not mentioned in the will from May 7, 1525, we can assume that either she died before or at this point, they were divorced. like the Hanseatic League city of Danzig (Gdańsk), had established printing houses early on.

The first printing shop was possibly opened in Kraków by Augsburg-based Günther Zainer in 1465. In 1491, Schweipolt Fiol printed the first book in Cyrillic script. The next recorded printing shop was a Dutch one known by the name Typographus Sermonum Papae Leonis I. that might have been established in 1473 on Polish territory, but its exact location has yet to be determined.

The oldest known print from Poland is considered to be the Almanach cracoviense ad annum 1474 (Cracovian Almanac for the Year 1474) which is a single-sheet astronomical wall calendar for the year 1474 printed and published in 1473 by Kasper Straube. The only surviving copy of the Almanach cracoviense measures 37 cm by 26.2 cm, and is in the collection of the Jagiellonian University.

Other well known early printers in Poland were: Hieronymus Vietor from Silesia who worked in Vienna and Kraków Printers from the Szafenberg family Florian Ungler

In the late 16th century there were 7 printing shops in Kraków, and in 1610 ten printing shops. A decline started in around 1615 leaving only three secular printing shops in 1650, accompanied by a few ecclesial ones.

Only one printing shop is recorded in Warsaw in 1707, owned by the Piarists. This situation improved during the realm of the last Polish king, Stanisław August Poniatowski, which marked a political and cultural revival in Poland. Unfortunately his attempts to reform the state led to the Partitions of Poland carried out by Prussia, Austria and Russia.

Printing technology The world's first movable type printing technology was invented and developed in China by the Han Chinese printer Bi Sheng between the years 1041 and 1048. In the West, the invention of an improved movable type mechanical printing technology in Europe is credited to the German printer Johannes Gutenberg in 1450.

The exact date of Gutenberg's press is debated based on existing screw presses. Gutenberg, a goldsmith by profession, developed a printing system by both adapting existing technologies and making inventions of his own. His newly devised hand mould made possible the rapid creation of metal movable type in large quantities Johannes Gutenberg's work on the printing press began in approximately 1436 when he partnered with Andreas Dritzehn—a man he had previously instructed in gem-cutting—and Andreas Heilmann, owner of a paper mill. However, it was not until a 1439 lawsuit against Gutenberg that an official record exists; witnesses' testimony discussed Gutenberg's types, an inventory of metals (including lead), and his type molds.

Gutenberg is also credited with the introduction of an oil-based ink which was more durable than the previously used water-based inks. As printing material he used both paper and vellum (high-quality parchment). In the Gutenberg Bible, Gutenberg made a trial of coloured printing for a few of the page headings, present only in some copies.

A later work, the Mainz Psalter of 1453, presumably designed by Gutenberg but published under the imprint of his successors Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer, had elaborate red and blue printed initials.

Books In total, Fiol published four editions of Church Slavonic books in Fiol's printing house in Kraków: "Octoechos" (Osmoglasnik, 1491) "Book of Hours" (1491) "Lenten Triodion" (1492–1493) "Pentecostarion" (unknown)

"Octoechos" and "Book of Hours" has the following colophon, in which the text is typed without spaces, making it difficult to understand and produced several variants of its interpretation. For example, this lack of clarity has allowed the Polish literary critic K. Estrayher to say that publishers could be two people: the Slav Sviatopolk and a German, a native franc.

Once documents found to reside in 1478–1499 in Kraków, Fiol, who called himself franc, this reading has lost all meaning. In the Ukrainian historiography, still Fiol called Sviatopolk of Lemko, of which there is no documentary evidence. 8-sheet notebooks. The last 3 sheets are blank, with 172 total pages. Some of the pages are decorated with complex patterns, in the beginning of each chapter, capital letters are painted with vermilion, decorated with a modest ornament. On the second page of the book before the start of the text displayed under a braided headband is a braided initial. In addition, incunabula contains 12 lines and simple tie in drawing, small in terms of size, the initials of pawn shops.

In "Pentecostarion" there is no colophon, but there is typographical Fiol mark. Anonymous printed in the same font of "Lenten Triodion." 28 preserved copies of "Pentecostarion", of which at least 4 are complete. "Pentecostarion" consists of 366 pages, the most complete specimen was found in October 1971 in the church of St. Nicholas Schei and is at the Museum of Romanian culture in Brasov (Romania), only 21 have survived.