Pro Sacratissima Eucharistia contra haeresim Zvinglianam. Ad Andream Volanum, praesentia corporis D. N. Iesu Christi, ex eode Sacrameto auferente Petri Scargae [...] libri tres

The first title published by Vilnius University’s printing press came out in May 1576. Its author was the Jesuit Piotr Skarga, a famous preacher and the first rector of the university (1579–1584). This polemical work ‘In Favour of the Most Holy Eucharist’ was directed against Andreas Volanus, a supporter of the Reformation and writer of literature in Latin. The author replies to the ideas expounded by Ulrich Zwingli, which contradicted the teachings of the Catholic Church.

The printing press was founded in 1575 by Mikołaj Krzysztof ‘The Orphan’ Radziwiłł when the printing press at Brest that had once been used by the Protestants was transferred to Vilnius. Seeking to make amends for the damage caused by the support for the Reformation by his father, he gave the printing press to the Jesuits, retaining only formal legal rights and providing for its maintenance. The main aim of the printing press was formulated in the foreword to the book: to lead the struggle against the Reformation. It is dedicated to the Bishop of Vilnius Walerian Protasewicz, and the Vilnius coadjutor and future cardinal Jerzy Radziwiłł, whom Skarga persuaded to convert to Catholicism in 1574.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album ARS LIBRI (2022). Compiler Algimantas Muzikevičius, text authors Algimantas Muzikevičius, Rolandas Gustaitis

The first title published by Vilnius University’s printing press came out in May 1576. Its author was the Jesuit Piotr Skarga, a famous preacher and the first rector of the university (1579–1584). This polemical work ‘In Favour of the Most Holy Eucharist’ was directed against Andreas Volanus, a supporter of the Reformation and writer of literature in Latin. The author replies to the ideas expounded by Ulrich Zwingli, which contradicted the teachings of the Catholic Church.

The printing press was founded in 1575 by Mikołaj Krzysztof ‘The Orphan’ Radziwiłł when the printing press at Brest that had once been used by the Protestants was transferred to Vilnius. Seeking to make amends for the damage caused by the support for the Reformation by his father, he gave the printing press to the Jesuits, retaining only formal legal rights and providing for its maintenance. The main aim of the printing press was formulated in the foreword to the book: to lead the struggle against the Reformation. It is dedicated to the Bishop of Vilnius Walerian Protasewicz, and the Vilnius coadjutor and future cardinal Jerzy Radziwiłł, whom Skarga persuaded to convert to Catholicism in 1574.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album ARS LIBRI (2022). Compiler Algimantas Muzikevičius, text authors Algimantas Muzikevičius, Rolandas Gustaitis