Scribes and paper of the late 16th century Yegorov-Barsov Chronograph

Abstract

Thе article is dedicated to description of two late sixteenth-century manuscripts containing the Russian Chronograph in the 1512 recension. Held today in two separate Moscow manuscript collections, they were identified as parts of a single whole in the work of M. V. Shchepkina and T. N. Protasieva, yet they have not previously been comprehensively described. The article offers a detailed analysis of the watermarks, hands, orthography, and language (in particular regarding accentuation) of this bifurcated chronograph.

The first manuscript is kept as no. 202 in the collection of E. E. Yegorov in the Russian State Library. The second is no. 1695 in the collection of E. V. Barsov in the State Historical Museum. The Yegorov manuscript was written on the same type of paper by three distinct scribes, whereas the Barsov manuscript was written on seven different types of paper yet in a single hand that may be identified as that of one of the scribes of the Yegorov manuscript. Furthermore, it has been possible to identify one of the watermarks in the Barsov manuscript precisely: it is watermark no. 1700 in the E. Laucevičius’ catalogue — the Polish Topór coat of arms beneath a crescent moon on a cartouche, which is represented in Lithuanian manuscripts of 1593 and 1594.

The pages of the Yegorov manuscript are two-thirds given to illumination, whereas the Barsov manuscript provides space only for miniatures and initials. It has been proposed by A. A. Turilov that this bifurcated chronograph was intended for Тsar Fedor Ioannovich, but was not completed due to his death in 1598.

For citation
Polivanova A. K. Scribes and paper of the late 16th century Yegorov-Barsov Chronograph // Slavic Almanac. 2020. Issues 3–4. P. 150–174. DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2020.3-4.2.01