Karakashian (1818 – 1903), a pioneer of Armenian historiography Madatia Karakashian was a productive and influential author who left his imprint on Armenian scholarship during the nineteenth century. “He started his career in the 1840s, publishing two books, The Art of Rhetoric (1844) and Description of Studies (1845). In the latter, he set his principles for the study of history. He rejected the historiography based on popular legends and highlighted the imperative for a critical approach. In the 1890s he started teaching Classical Armenian at the newly founded Getronagan School. He also published a collection of geography textbooks. In 1895, he published in Tiflis his most important work, Critical History of Armenia, which was the first attempt to present a history of Armenia based on a critical approach to sources and establishing a connection with the political and social relations of Armenia until the fifth century A.D.” (The Armenian Prelacy).

Founded in Constantinople in 1701 by the Armenian monk Mekhitar of Sebaste the congregation established a printing house in Vienna in 1811, following its relocation from Trieste the previous year. The press became an important centre of Armenian scholarship and literary publishing, producing books in numerous languages and possessing an extensive range of non-Latin typefaces.

“They (The Viennese Mekhitarists) were pioneers in Armenian printing and publishing in Europe. Indeed, the Mekhitarists were instrumental in establishing a printing press that played a major role in the dissemination of Armenian knowledge and culture. In Vienna, the Mekhitarist press published numerous Armenian texts, contributing to the revival of the Armenian language and literature during a time when the Armenian homeland was under Ottoman and Persian rule. Their publications included religious texts, historical chronicles, dictionaries, and scholarly works, helping to standardize and preserve the Armenian language. It should be noted that the press was not only important for Armenian readers but also served European scholars with an interest in Oriental studies, particularly those focusing on the Armenian language and culture.” (Tsivolas, The Armenian Presence in Vienna: From the Coffeehouse to the Church and Back)

OCLC list three copies: Harvard University, Columbia University and the Matenadaran in Armenia.