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Humanitarian sciences in Siberia

2021 year, number

OLD BELIEVER LIBRARY IN THE COLLECTION OF TOMSK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

V.A. Esipova
Tomsk State University Research Library, Tomsk, Russian Federation
Keywords: Old Believers, Siberia, manuscripts, archeography, Tomsk Theological Seminary, Ignaty Andreev Mozzherin

Abstract

The collection of the Tomsk Theological Seminary (TTS) entered the Tomsk State University Research Library (TSU RL) in the 1920s. Its collection has a “schismatic” library including books seized from Old Believers. There were a number of book collections among them. The article objective is to consider such collection which consists of 10 manuscripts. When the manuscripts were seized, they were signed by the priest Ioann Mineralov. Based on his signature and the same handwriting, the studied collection was identified as a whole. The research uses a method of viewing the manuscript catalogue and selected copies. Then the selected copies were analyzed using traditional methods of paleography and codicology. A list of manuscripts is given in an appendix. Results. All identified manuscripts are small notebooks in 8O, from 33 to 160 sheets. The text contains a lot of corrections and additions. In terms of content, the manuscripts are collections of numerous short extracts from authoritative texts and lists of bibliographic references. A number of sources are precisely indicated by the scriber: pre-Nicon editions of Moscow Printing House. The topics of the extracts are traditional for the Old Believers’ circle of interests: these are questions of baptism, living in the desert and escape from the world, etc. The scriber’s personality was identified thanks to a document sewn into a manucript: debt notes made by the manuscript scriber, Ignaty Andreev Mozzherin. The document’s text is published in the article. There are other records that made possible to establish the territory where the scribe lived: it is an area of modern Ordynskoe village (Novosibirsk Region). The author makes assumptions about the purpose of composing the manuscripts: either preparation for polemics, or compilation of another more extensive text; suggests that the scriber belonged to the group of the Old Believers-pilgrims. The collection of manuscripts under study will expand our understanding of the Old Believers’ region, their reading circle, as well as everyday habits and lifestyle.