The "Story of Barlaam and Josaphat" and the Bookish Script in the Beginning of the 15th Century
https://doi.org/10.20913/script-2024-1-02
Abstract
The Story of Barlaam and Josaphat is one of the most popular Middle Age texts. The legend is known in different languages, including several Slavic translations. The Bulgarian translation of the Story is dated the 14th century. It comes to Rus’ no later than the beginning of the 15th century as the oldest copy of the Bulgarian translation of the Story is dated by this time (Russian Academy of Sciences Library, the collection of Pavel Dobrochotov, Ms 37). This manuscript staid in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for a long time. There is a question if the codex was written in Lithuanian territories, or it was brought there from the Muscovite State. There are some unusual features in the manuscript, as writing a half of the letter on the edge of the line or cinnabaric letters in the middle of the word. One can meet the same features in the Russian North-West manuscripts made in different centers, from Pskov to Belozerie. This let us to suppose that the oldest copy of Bulgarian translation of the Story of Barlaam and Josaphat was written in the Russian North-West region and was brought in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15th – 16th centuries.
About the Author
M. V. Korogodina
Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Maria V. Korogodina, Doctor of History, Chief Researcher, Head of the Manuscript Department
1 Birzhevaya Lane, St. Petersburg, 199034
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Review
For citations:
Korogodina M.V. The "Story of Barlaam and Josaphat" and the Bookish Script in the Beginning of the 15th Century. Scriptorium slavicum. 2024;(1):23-32. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.20913/script-2024-1-02
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