2021 Vol. 12 №1

Pechora scrolls: St. Augustine’s miracle of the revelation of the Elder

DOI

10.5922/2225-5346-2021-1-5

Pages

71-85

Abstract

The Ust-Tsilemsky region of the Komi Republic is known for its collection of medieval handwritten books and manuscripts. These collections found in the area of the Lower Pechora River contain a rich variety of Old Believers’ written documents of different genres. The au­thors explore one of these documents — St. Augustine’s Miracle of the Revelation of the El­der, which exists in two different Pechora documents. One of them is a hagiographic text cre­ated by the famous Ust-Tsilma scribe and editor of Old Russian texts Myandin, who lived in the second half of the 19th century. The Miracle is a part of the Book of St. Augustine and has survived in only a few copies. It is noteworthy that Myandin’s works have not been previous­ly studied. Employing textual analysis, the authors came to the conclusion which of the two Myadlin’s texts is closer to the earliest surviving scroll of the Miracle (Science Library of Moscow State University, the collection of manuscripts of the Old Believers of Bessarabia and Belaya Krinitsa, No. 2194, fol. 109—115 ob). This is a text contained in the Tsvetnik, com­piled by Myandin. The study showed that the other copy is a later work of the scribe on the storyline of The Miracle, which involved the shortening of the text, the introduction of new narrative details, naming the main character, and providing a more detailed description of his appearance. The authors argue that, at a later stage of mastering the plot of the Miracle, My­andin created his own version of the events described. He employed his own vocabulary satu­rating the plot with details, which were missing in the first version. He cleared the text of unnecessary motives that distract the reader from the main idea of the story: holiness does not depend on rank or status; it can also be granted to a humble, illiterate person who is capable of performing miracles.

Reference

Bobrov, A. G., 1994. Apokrificheskoye «Skazaniye Afroditiana» v literature i knizhnosti Drevney Rusi: issled. i teksty [Apocryphal "The Legend of Aphrodite" in the literature and bookishness of Ancient Russia: research and texts.]. Saint-Petersburg. (New names in science) (in Russ).

Demkova, N. S., 1976. Otchet ob arkheograficheskoy ekspeditsii na Pechoru [Report on the archaeographic expedition to Pechora]. Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literatury [Pro­ceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature]. Leningrad. vol. 30, p. 357—360 (in Russ).

Kalugin, V. V., 2013. «Kniga svyatogo Avgustina» v russkoy pismennosti XVI—XIX vekov [«The Book of St. Augustine» in Russian writing of the 16th—19th centuries]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta [Moscow University Bulletin], ser. 9 filologiya, no. 4, pp. 108—163.

Malyshev, V. I., 1940. Svedeniya o sobraniyakh rukopisey i staropechatnykh knig v nekotorykh gorodakh severnykh oblastey [Information about the collections of manu­scripts and early printed books in some cities of the northern regions]. Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literatury [Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature]. Moscow, Leningrad. Vol. 4, pp. 247—253 (in Russ).

Malyshev, V. I., 1955. Arkheograficheskaya ekspeditsiya v Ust-Tsilmskiy rayon Komi ASSR [Archaeographic expedition to the Ust-Tsilmsky district of the Komi ASSR]. Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literatury [Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature]. Moscow, Leningrad. Vol. 11, pp. 425—439 (in Russ).

Malyshev, V. I., 1956а. Pizhemskaya rukopisnaya starina: (otchet o komandirovke 1955 g.) [Pizhemskaya handwritten antiquity: (report on mission 1955)]. Trudy otdela drevne­russkoy literatury [Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature]. Mos­cow, Leningrad. Vol. 12, pp. 461—493 (in Russ).

Malyshev, V. I., 1958. Otchet o komandirovke na Pechoru v 1956 g [Report on a mis­sion to Pechora in 1956]. Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literatury [Proceedings of the De­partment of Old Russian Literature]. Moscow, Leningrad. Vol. 15, pp. 398—408 (in Russ).

Malyshev, V. I., 1960а. Otchet ob arkheograficheskoy komandirovke na Pechoru 1958 g [Report on an archaeographic mission to Pechora in 1958]. Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literatury [Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature]. Moscow, Len­ingrad. Vol. 16, pp. 513—521 (in Russ).

Malyshev, V. I., 1961. Ust-Tsilemskiye rukopisi XVII-XIX vv. istoricheskogo. litera­turnogo i bytovogo soderzhaniya [Ust-Tsilem manuscripts of the 17th-19th centuries. historical, literary and everyday content]. Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literatury [Pro­ceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature]. Moscow, Leningrad. Vol. 17, pp. 561—604 (in Russ).

Malyshev, V. I., 1969. Vozmozhny li eshche rukopisnyye nakhodki v Ust-Tsilemskom rayone Komi ASSR? [Are handwritten finds in the Ust-Tsilemsky region of the Komi ASSR still possible?]. Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literatury [Proceedings of the De­partment of Old Russian Literature]. Leningrad. Vol. 24, pp. 370—374 (in Russ).

Malyshev, V. I., 1985. Ust-Tsilemskiy knigopisets i pisatel XIX v. I. S. Myandin [Ust-Tsilemsky book-writer and writer of the XIX century. I. S. Myandin]. Drevnerusskaya knizhnost (po materialam Pushkinskogo Doma) [Old Russian bookishness (based on ma­terials from the Pushkin House). Leningrad? pp. 323—337 (in Russ).

Pamyatniki pismennosti v khranilishchakh Komi ASSR: katalog-putevodite,. 1989. Part 1, iss. 1: Rukopisnyye sobraniya Syktyvkarskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Handwrit­ten collections of Syktyvkar State University]. Syktyvkar (in Russ).

Romodanovskaya, E. K., 1985. Povesti o gordom tsare v rukopisnoy traditsii XVII—XIX vv. [The story of a proud king in the handwritten tradition of the 17th—19th centu­ries]. Novosibirsk (in Russ).

Ryzhova, E. А., 2017. Opisaniye pechorskikh rukopisey iz fondov Biblioteki Rossiyskoy akademii nauk [Description of the Pechora manuscripts from the funds of the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. Knizhnyye tsentry Respubliki Komi: Ust-Tsilemskiy rayon: sbornik materialov i issledovaniy [Book centers of the Komi Republic: Ust-Tsilemskiy region: collection of materials and research]. Syktyvkar, pp. 230—285 (in Russ).

Spravochno-bibliograficheskiye materially, 2017. Ust-tsilemskaya knizhnost v issledo­vaniyakh filologov Syktyvkarskogo universiteta: tematicheskiy bibliograficheskiy ukazatel [Ust-Tsilma book-learning in the studies of philologists at Syktyvkar University: a thematic bibliographic index]. Knizhnyye tsentry Respubliki Komi: Ust-Tsilemskiy rayon: sbornik materialov i issledovaniy [Book centers of the Komi Republic: Ust-Tsilemskiy region: collection of materials and research]. Syktyvkar, pp. 317—350 (in Russ).

Troitskaya, T. S., 1985. Povest o Dinare v redaktsii I. S. Myandina [The Tale of the Dinar, edited by I. S. Myandin]. Drevnerusskaya knizhnost (po materialam Pushkinskogo doma) [Old Russian bookishness (based on materials from the Pushkin House)]. Le­ningrad, pp. 36—47 (in Russ).

Volkova, T. F., 1979. Otchet ob arkheograficheskoy ekspeditsii v Ust-Tsilemskiy rayon Komi ASSR [Report on an archaeographic expedition to the Ust-Tsilemsky district of the Komi ASSR]. Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literatury [Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature]. Leningrad. Vol. 34, pp. 375—376 (in Russ).

Volkova, T. F., 1991. Arkheograficheskaya rabota Syktyvkarskogo universiteta na Nizh­ney Pechore v 1977—1990-kh gg. [Archaeographic work of the Syktyvkar University in the Lower Pechora in 1977—1990s.]. Istochniki po istorii narodnoy kultury Severa [Sources on the history of the folk culture of the North]. Syktyvkar, pp. 94—105 (in Russ).

Volkova, T. F., 2005а. Drevnerusskaya literatura v kruge chteniya pechorskikh krestian. Pechorskiye redaktsii drevnerusskikh povestey [Old Russian literature in the reading cir­cle of Pechora peasants. Pechora editions of Old Russian stories]. Syktyvkar (in Russ).

Volkova, T. F., 2005б. Drevnerusskaya i staroobryadcheskaya agiografiya v pechorskoy rukopisnoy traditsii [Old Russian and Old Believer hagiography in the Pechora manu­script tradition]. Russkaya agiografiya: Issledovaniya. Publikatsii. Polemika [Russian hagio­graphy: Research. Publications. Controversy]. Saint-Petersburg, pp. 236—271 (in Russ).

Volkova, T. F., 2006. Ivan Stepanovich Myandin — redaktor drevnerusskikh povestey (Nekotoryye itogi izucheniya literaturnogo naslediya pechorskogo knizhnika) [Ivan Stepa­novich Myandin — editor of Old Russian stories]. Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literatury [Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature]. Vol. 57. Saint-Petersburg, pp. 839—890 (in Russ).

Volkova, T. F., 2013а. Dva apokrifa iz Torzhestvennika. sostavlennogo pechorskim knizhnikom I. S. Myandinym [Two Apocryphs from the Solemnity. compiled by the Pechora scribe I. S. Myandin]. Vestnik Syktyvkarskogo universiteta. Seriya gumanitarnykh nauk, [Syktyvkar University Bulletin. Humanities Series], 2, pp. 20—35 (in Russ).

Volkova, T. F., 2013б. K voprosu o krestianskom vzglyade na srednevekovyye syuzhety (ust-tsilemets I. S. Myandin i ustkulomets I. S. Rassykhayev) [To the question of the peas­ant's view of medieval plots (Ust-Tsileme resident I. S. Myandin and Ustkulomets I. S. Rassykhaev)]. Narodnaya kultura v slove i tekste: Sbornik issledovaniy i materialov pamyati Valentiny Viktorovny Filippovoy [Folk culture in word and text: Collection of studies and materials in memory of Valentina Viktorovna Filippova]. Syktyvkar, pp. 43—51 (in Russ).

Volkova, T. F., 2018. Rol leksicheskikh i frazeologicheskikh variantov v ustanovlenii redaktsiy drevnerusskikh sochineniy (na materiale pechorskikh spiskov «povesti o kuptse. obogativshemsya utvariyu presvyatoy Bogoroditsy») [The role of lexical and phraseologi­cal variants in the establishment of editions of Old Russian works]. Vestnik Cherepo­vetskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta [Bulletin of the Cherepovets State University], 5 (86), pp. 51—62.

Volkova, T. F., Chuprova, G. V., 1999. K izucheniyu Povesti o tsarevne Persike [To the study of the Tale of the Princess Persike]. Novosibirsk, pp. 16—25 (in Russ).

Volkova, T. F., Kosyreva (Malysheva), L. L., 2019. Dva pechorskikh spiska Povesti o kuptse. obogativshemsya «utvariyu» presvyatoy Bogoroditsy [Two Pechora’s scrolls of the Story of a merchant who enriched the "utvariyu" of the Most Holy Theotokos]. Vest­nik Syktyvkarskogo universiteta. Seriya gumanitarnykh nauk [Syktyvkar University Bulle­tin. Humanities Series], 1 (9), pp. 142—147 (in Russ).