Love of Books

“In Armenia the book was treated with the same respect as icons and relics were elsewhere,” says W.C. M. Wustefeld, curator of manuscripts at the Catharijne Convent. “That respect was given in the first place to the Bible, called “the breath of God” by Armenians. In many wars, persecutions and deportations that they experienced, they did everything possible—with their own lives’ at stake—to save their books, be it by dragging them along, burying or hiding them. Books were cherished and protected like beloved family members.”

“In Armenia the book was treated with the same respect as icons and relics were elsewhere,” says W.C. M. Wustefeld, curator of manuscripts at the Catharijne Convent. “That respect was given in the first place to the Bible, called “the breath of God” by Armenians. In many wars, persecutions and deportations that they experienced, they did everything possible—with their own lives’ at stake—to save their books, be it by dragging them along, burying or hiding them. Books were cherished and protected like beloved family members.”