Catholic Book (1878–1944) Bibliographical repertoire
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Български

Methodology

Project Results

Catholic book printing in Bulgaria remains an insufficiently explored yet significant segment of the country’s cultural and historical heritage. The primary initiators of Catholic literary production are the two main Catholic communities in Bulgaria: the Western (Latin) Rite, active in Northwestern Bulgaria since the 17th century, and the Eastern (Byzantine-Slavic) Rite, which emerged in the 19th century as part of the Union with Rome. During the Bulgarian National Revival, the publication of books for Bulgarian Catholics intensified notably. However, despite progress, the number of published books remained relatively limited until 1878. Initially, the main printing centers were concentrated around Plovdiv and later expanded to Constantinople. After the Liberation, Catholic literature developed under the influence of the Vatican and the new policies of an independent Bulgaria, creating conditions for an active publishing process.

The two rites developed in parallel while maintaining their distinct traditions, administrative structures, and territorial distributions. Historically, the Western Rite took shape through two dioceses: the Sofia-Plovdiv Diocese, covering Southern Bulgaria, and the Nicopol Diocese, responsible for the northern regions. The main Catholic mission active within the Western Rite both before and after the Liberation was the Capuchin Order. Following 1878, the Catholic population of the Eastern Rite remained within the borders of the Ottoman Empire (Macedonia and Adrianople Thrace). To facilitate more efficient administration, two new dioceses were established—the Macedonian Bulgarian Apostolic Vicariate, under the influence of the Lazarists, and the Thracian Bulgarian Apostolic Vicariate, influenced by the Assumptionists and the Resurrectionists. After the conclusion of the Balkan War (1913), a significant portion of the Bulgarian ethnic population was forced to leave Ottoman territories. The migration of Bulgarian Catholics identifying with the Eastern Rite necessitated the reorganization of dioceses, leading to the establishment of a new apostolic diocese in Sofia in 1926, decreed by Rome.

Another distinctive aspect of Bulgarian Uniatism is the activity of Catholic orders, which found a favorable environment for development particularly among Bulgarians of the Eastern Rite. The fragmented growth of Bulgarian Catholic spiritual centers and the late integration of the Strandzha region into Bulgarian territory (1913) posed challenges to bibliographic research and inclusion in the country’s library deposit system. Based on these premises, it is hypothesized that numerous publications remain unregistered in the corpus of Bulgarian retrospective bibliography. The research hypothesis suggests that a substantial collection of books and archival documents related to the project’s topic may be found in cultural institutions (churches, archives, and libraries) located in settlements with a higher concentration of Catholic populations. Currently, a significant portion of the Catholic literary heritage from various parishes and orders is scattered across multiple repositories. In many cases, historical records stating the existence of libraries or archives belonging to specific orders or parishes cannot be fully trusted, as it is known that during the 1950s, much of their property was nationalized and dispersed across different locations in Bulgaria. In light of these circumstances, book searches have been refined and directed toward Catholic centers with strong and stable traditions.

The thematic scope of Catholic books in Bulgaria is diverse and academically significant. Their typology primarily includes religious, moralistic, educational, and artistic literature, with numerous polemical publications defending Catholic doctrine. The scholarly importance of the Catholic literary heritage is further highlighted by the fact that it has not been systematically studied within the given chronological period (1878–1944). In this regard, the creation of an openly accessible digital resource featuring a bibliographic database and a geographic information system will help bridge the information gap and support future research on this academically relevant issue.

The primary objective of the project is to locate and systematize empirical materials that provide evidence of the overall role and history of Bulgarian Catholic books within the national publishing system. The present database includes the publications discovered during the study, covering the period 1878–1944, along with information about the authors, publishers, and printers involved in the production of books intended for Bulgarian Catholics. Special attention is given to the geographical distribution of publishing centers that concentrated Catholic book production during this chronological period.

The final outcome of the project is the presentation of new scholarly information concerning Catholic publishing in Bulgaria and the enhancement of the retrospective bibliography with publications that are currently registered only in bibliographic sources or remain entirely unidentified.

Digital Environment

Traditional printed bibliographic reference works no longer meet the contemporary needs of users. Their usage is hampered by their physical volume and complex structure, leading to significant search and analysis times. For these reasons, the project focuses on selecting new technological solutions to present scientific results in an easily accessible and efficient manner, aligned with modern information consumption trends.

The database “Catholic Book 1878–1944” provides free online access to bibliographic and metric information as well as a geographic visualization of the territorial distribution of publishing production. The compiled bibliographic corpus can be filtered and sorted according to the specific needs of researchers and library specialists, with descriptions conforming to best practices and adapted to the Bulgarian National Standard BDS 15419-82.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with open-source technology have been used to systematize scientific information in the humanities and social sciences since the late 20th century. The present system enables a multi-component analysis of the geographical distribution, trends, and development of Catholic publishing practices in Bulgaria. Over the last decade, GIS has been successfully applied in Bulgarian humanities research, proving its potential for analyzing and visualizing publishing trends.

Among the key research questions that GIS can address are:

Bibliographic descriptions are presented in three main layers:

All results and bibliographic records can be freely shared, copied, printed, and downloaded, enhancing the system’s practical applicability.

For more information see

Загоров, В., & Бояджиев, Д. (2013). Центрове и териториално разпределение на българското книгоиздаване (1878-1908). Приложение и възможности на географските информационни системи в областта на история на книгата. В: Библиотеки, четене, комуникации: Единадесета национална научна конференция с международно участие, Велико Търново, 16-17 ноември 2012 г.

Загоров, В., & Златкова, П. (2016). Библиографска експедиция „Малко Търново 2015“. Библиосфера, Достъпно на: 20 https://bibliosphere.eu/?p=3092

Angelova, G. (2024). The Bulgarian Catholic Book in the System of the Bulgarian Publishing (1878–1944). Geographic Information Systems as a Tool in Presenting and Preserving Literary Cultural Heritage. Digital Presentation and Preservation of Cultural and Scientific Heritage, 14, 259–264.

Black, F. A., MacDonald, B. H., & Black, J. M. W. (1998). Geographic Information Systems: A New Research Method for Book History. Book History, 1, 11–31.

Zagorov, V., & Encheva, M. (2017). Digitalization of the Repertoire of Books from the Bulgarian Revival (1801–1878). In 10th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation 6-18 November, Seville, Spain (pp. 3545-3548).