Skaryna as Waste Paper. What Do the Sheets of the Belarusian Printer Inside a Foreign Binding Tell Us?

Front part of the binding, where a fragment of the sixth sheet of the "Book of Judges," printed by Francysk Skaryna at the end of 1519 in Prague, was discovered. Photo: from the publication

Charles University researcher Aliaksandr Parshankou discovered 14 previously unknown fragments of Francysk Skaryna's "Book of Judges" in Prague. He writes about this in an article published in the scientific journal Slavistica Vilnensis.

In the history of Belarusian printing, Prague holds a prominent place. It was here, between 1517 and 1519, that the Polotsk native published his Bible. However, today, almost no complete originals remain in Prague. The only Prague copy, the book "Sirach," returned there only in 1867 as a gift from the Russian Slavist Pyotr Bessonov, writes Belarusy.cz.

Traces of the Belarusian printer must be sought in unexpected places.

Павялічыць

The book, under the leather binding of which 14 fragments from the "Book of Judges," printed by Francysk Skaryna at the end of 1519 in Prague, were discovered. Photo: from the publication

In October 2025, a thick volume appeared in one of the antiquarian bookstores in the Czech capital. It came from a private collection and was a convolute—a collection of five separate Latin editions of theological works by early Reformation figures. The books were printed in 1527, and the collection itself was encased in a massive brown calfskin binding. It was under this very leather that the discovery was hidden.

In the 16th century, paper was expensive, but wooden or cardboard covers required reinforcement. Old master bookbinders had an exclusively pragmatic approach: they bought unsold editions, defective sheets, or simply old books from printing houses and ruthlessly cut them into strips. With this waste paper, they stuffed leather folios to give them weight and density.

What was industrial waste for artisans of that time became a time capsule for modern historians. When the convolute fell into the hands of restorers, it turned out that the front and back parts of its binding consisted of sheets from Skaryna's "Book of Judges."

Павялічыць

Headpiece on one of the discovered fragments of the "Book of Judges" featuring Skaryna's signet: sun and moon. Photo: from the publication

The exact publication date of this, by the way, the last Prague edition by the Belarusian enlightener, is known: December 15, 1519. Each of the fourteen found fragments represents half of an original in quarto sheet.

The most interesting aspect of this story is its geography. On the back of the binding, the year of its creation—1528—is stamped, along with the initials of the master "HB" and a male portrait.

This person is known to scholars. Master HB worked not in Prague or Vilnius, but in Wrocław during the 1520s–1540s. He bound books for the Wrocław magistrate and the well-known Silesian reformer Jan Hess.

And this is not the first time his work intersects with Belarusian history. As Alena Tsikhanovich recalls, back in 1977, other fragments of Skaryna were discovered in the Slavic Library of the Czech Republic, sewn into the Renaissance binding of old legal books by the very same Master HB.

Павялічыць

Detail of the book cover with the initials of the master bookbinder. Photo: from the publication

Apparently, the Wrocław master systematically acquired Skaryna's waste paper for his needs. This confirms that Francysk Skaryna or his booksellers had close contacts with Silesian publishers and magistrates.

From Wrocław, the book with Belarusian pages inside continued its journey, ending up in the mid-18th century on the border of Silesia and Slovakia, only to return to Prague almost three hundred years later.

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