The Written Testimonies of the Notary and Historian Marko Lauro Ruić

Najpoznatiji notar s otoka Paga, Marko Lauro Ruić, ostavio je iza sebe velik broj rukopisa u kojima je tijekom posljednjih desetljeća 18. stoljeća prepisao stare spise, što su se u to vrijeme čuvali u Gradskom arhivu u Pagu, prevodio knjige iz povijesti ili opisivao društveni i politički život na svome otoku. Neki od tih starih spisa kasnije su se izgubili pa su Ruićevi prijepisi danas sasvim pouzdana zamjena za originale. Posebno su zanimljive genealogije u kojima su vješto nacrtani grbovi obitelji, grada, crkvenih institucija ili osoba, bratovština i drugih zajednica u Pagu. U povijesnim pregledima ima zemljopisnih karata otoka Paga i okolnih područja, planova grada, crteža crkava i zgrada koje je izradio vlastitom rukom, a naslovne stranice ukrasio vinjetama s grbovima i geslom na latinskom jeziku. Za života ništa nije tiskao niti objavio, a nakon njegove smrti rukopisi su ostali u vlasništvu nasljednika, koji su ih posuđivali povjesničarima ili prodavali. To je razdoblje u kojemu se nekim knjigama izgubio svaki trag. U drugoj polovini 19. stoljeća počinje rasti interes za Ruićeva djela pa Namjesništvo u Zadru nastoji otkupiti rukopise od nasljednika, a pojavljuju se i prvi prepisivači “Ruićeve historije”. Početkom 20. stoljeća najveći broj sačuvanih rukopisa već se nalazi u knjižnici Državnog arhiva u Zadru (nastaloj od knjižnice Namjesništva), a drugi su, uključujući i prijepise, u Znanstvenoj knjižnici u Zadru te u knjižnicama u Zagrebu i Splitu. Neke knjige sačuvane su samo u prijepisima, a nekima su poznati samo naslovi, koji se spominju na različitim mjestima. Kako ne postoji nijedna cjelovita bibliografija Ruićevih djela, danas je teško zaključiti što je još izgubljeno i gdje bi se to moglo tražiti. Ideja za ovaj rad nastala je prigodom održavanja znanstvenog skupa o M. L. Ruiću u Pagu 1996. godine, kada je autorica priredila izložbu Ruićevih rukopisa koji se čuvaju u knjižnici Državnog arhiva i Znanstvenoj knjižnici u Zadru. Tada je napisala pregled dostupne Ruićeve ostavštine i pridodala mu katalog rukopisa koji su joj bili dostupni. Rad je rezultat dodatnih istraživanja rukopisne ostavštine M. L. Ruića.The most famous notary from the island of Pag, Marko Lauro Ruić, left after his death a large number of manuscripts in which, during the last decades of the 18th century, he had recorded old documents which were at the time kept in the Pag City Archive, translated history books and described the social and political life on the island. Some of the old documents later disappeared so that Ruić’s copies are today a reliable substitute for the original. His genealogies in which he skillfully drew coats of arms of different families, of the city, Church institutions or individuals, of the fraternities and other communities on Pag are of special interest. In his historical writings there are geographical maps of the island of Pag and the surrounding region, city plans, his hand drawings of churches and buildings, while the title pages were decorated with vignettes with coats of arms and quotes in Latin. He did not publish any of his writings during his lifetime and after his death the manuscripts became the property of his successors who lent them to historians or had them sold. This is when some of the manuscripts disappeared without a trace. Interest in Ruić’s work began to grow in the second half of the 19th century when the Governorship in Zadar made attempts to buy the manuscripts from his inheritors and when the first transcibers of “Ruić’s History” appeared. At the beginning of the twentieth century the largest number of preserved manuscripts were already stored in the State Archive Library in Zadar (which grew on the foundation of the Dalmatian Governorship Library) while others, including the later transcriptions, found their place in the Scientific Library in Zadar and in libraries in Zagreb and Split. Some of the manuscripts have come down to us only as transcripts while others are known only by their titles which are mentioned in different places. Since no complete bibliography of Ruić’s writings exists today it is difficult to conclude what has been lost and where one ought to seek to find it. The idea for this paper emerged on the occasion of the Scientific conference devoted to M. L. Ruić which was held in Pag in 1996 when the author prepared an exhibition of Ruić’s manuscripts which are kept in the State Archive Library in Zadar and in the Scientific Library in Zadar. On the occasion she wrote a survey of Ruić’s available manuscripts and she added a catalogue of available manuscripts. The present article is the result of additional research done on Ruić’s manuscripts