Four Hagiographical Manuscripts of the Second Half of the Fifteenth Century from the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Library of Russia

Four fifteenth-century hagiographical manuscripts, previously undated or misattributed, have been precisely dated to the late 1450s and 1460s through analysis of watermarks and textual content. The study reveals that manuscript 45.11.17 from the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences is the earliest known copy of the second Kassian redaction of the Kyiv-Pechersk Patericon, pushing its origins back to the 1460s or 1470s. Similarly, miscellany 32.3.12, also from St. Petersburg, contains the earliest known versions of the lives of three Russian saints, dated to the late 1450s or early 1460s. Additionally, two Menaion Reader volumes (Cheti Minei) from the National Library of Russia were linked to a single set compiled by scribes in the circle of Archbishop Gennadii, closely aligning with the Volokolamsk Menaion and the Great Menaion Reader from Novgorod's Saint Sophia Cathedral. This research clarifies the provenance and dating of these significant manuscripts, contributing to the understanding of late medieval Russian hagiographical traditions.

Karbasova, T. B., & Sergeev, A. G. (2024). Four Hagiographical Manuscripts of the Second Half of the Fifteenth Century from the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Library of Russia. Труды Отдела Древнерусской Литературы, 71, 243–266. https://doi.org/10.31860/0130-464x-2024-71-243-266