Historical Inscriptions of the 17th Century in Cyrillic Books: New Findings

Abstract

The article introduces into scholarly circulation newly-found 17th century notes, previously unknown to specialists, on old printed books from the 16th–17th centuries preserved in some modern private bibliophile collections. These books, printed in East Slavic printing houses, as well as at the Moscow Print Yard, containing notes of undoubted historical and cultural significance, were identified by the author during recent field and office archaeographic work. The value of notes in old printed books as a historical source has long been proven in historiography, while archeographical work focused on the search, description, and study of such notes remains relevant. The article examines donation notes in the books, as well as the bookplates of the outstanding book translator and scribe Evfimy Chudovsky; the crucial historical figure Yuri Khmelnitsky, the son of Bogdan Khmelnitsky; the “hero” of the Tale of the Miracles of the Vilna Cross, Bogdan Tsvetnov, a merchant and sponsor of churches and monasteries in Murom; and, finally, Pyotr Yevtihievich Lermontov, the great-great-grandfather of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov.

DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2023.2.08