The Bank of Latvia has released a unique silver commemorative coin to mark the 500th anniversary of the first Latvian book. This significant issuance celebrates a pivotal moment in Latvian history, symbolizing the nation’s journey towards its own written culture through a publication believed to contain a Lutheran mass.
Minted at the Royal Dutch Mint (Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt), the coin became available on November 4 for €79. Its mintage is strictly limited to just 2,500 copies.
The Story of the Burned Contraband of 1525
Intriguingly, no physical copy of this first Latvian book exists today. Its historical presence is confirmed solely by an old diary entry from Johann Brandes, the Dean of the Lübeck City Council. On November 8, 1525, Brandes documented the interception of a barrel containing contraband Lutheran handbooks, notably in both Latvian and Estonian.
All the seized books were subsequently burned.
Despite the destruction, Latvian historians recognize November 1525 as the genesis of Latvian book culture. This era coincided with the triumph of the Reformation in the 16th century, a period when the development of written national languages was often intertwined with intense ideological clashes and religious conflicts.
The oldest surviving printed text in Latvian is actually a translation of the Catholic “Catechism” by the Jesuit Petrus Canisius, published in Vilnius in 1585. This was followed by the first Lutheran books for priests, printed in Königsberg between 1586 and 1587.
The First Lithuanian Book
The first book in Lithuanian was also a “Catechism,” authored by Martynas Mažvydas and printed in Königsberg in 1547. This seminal work, which contained the first Lithuanian primer and church hymns with musical notation, laid the foundation for Lithuanian printed literature.
With an estimated print run of 200–300 copies, only two are known to have survived. One of these is now preserved at the Vilnius University Library. It was notably discovered by scholar and historian Lev Vladimirov (who served as the director of the UN Library from 1964 to 1970) in the Odesa University Library before being returned to Vilnius.
The First Estonian Book
The history of Estonian literature highlights two primary dates connected to the emergence of its first printed works:
1525 (not preserved): This refers to the same barrel of contraband from Lübeck previously mentioned in connection with the Latvian coin.
1553 (not preserved): In 1553, “Luther’s Small Catechism,” translated by Franz Witte, was printed in Lübeck. This publication is frequently cited as the first Estonian book. Yet, just like the 1525 edition, it has vanished without a trace.
The earliest substantial surviving literary work in Estonian is actually the 39 sermons by Georg Müller, which were composed between 1600 and 1606.
