Police Recover Bulgaria's Stolen First Modern Textbook

Bulgaria's first modern textbook, the Riben Bukvar, published in 1824 by scientist Dr. Petar Beron. Photo by BGNES

The anti-mafia units of the Bulgarian police seized Friday the original of Bulgaria's first ABC book, the so called "Riben Bukvar".

The "Riben Bukvar" was published in 1824 in Bucharest by the Bulgarian scientist Petar Beron, and was the first modern Bulgarian textbook, which had a tremendous impact on Bulgarians during the nation's Revival Period (19th century).

In November 2008, the textbook was stolen from the National Revival Museum in Petar Beron's native town of Kotel in Eastern Bulgaria. It was replaced with a fake copy by a local antiques collector who had access to the museum.

The original was then sold to collectors in Sofia. The invaluable textbook was recovered by the police after a nation-wide special operation.

The "Riben Bukvar", meaning "Fish ABC Book" became known with this name because it had a dolphin on its front cover.

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