Paper: 1) Russian machine-made paper without labels; 2) Russian machine-made paper with a stamp without information about the name of the manufacture and its owner (f. 129-148, 177-200). Writing style: skoropis' by several hands. The manuscript has double scriber’s pagination: f. 1-14, 19-30 – Cyrillic numeric; f. 15-18, 31-167, 169-450 – Arabic pagination. F. 168 was numbered in the Arabic numerals by reader. Decoration: headings and initials with colored inks, head-pieces with floral ornament in the Guslitsky Old Believer style (f. 1, 19); schematic end-pieces (f. 449, 450); end-piece in the so-called style Playing Text [игра текстом] – triangle-shaped objects (f. 19). The manuscript with old-believers title «The book of essays and lessons of Maximus the Greek [Книга слов и поучений Максима Грека] contains essays, epistles, and translations of Maximus the Greek, an Orthodox writer of the 1st half of the 16th century. These texts, supplementing by the Foreword, The Tale of Maxim the Philosopher [Сказание о Максиме философе] etc. let researchers consider such type of Codes the composed in the Old Believers communities [ref.: Шашков А.Т. Поморский кодекс сочинений Максима Грека // Шашков А.Т. Избранные труды. Екатеринбург, 2013. p. 17-39]. Binding: late 17th, wooden binding, leather, clasp and a fragment of clasp. Readers’ notes. 1892 (the date is on f. 450).
2° (size of book block –352 mmх 220 mm; binding size – 377 mm х 223 mm , binding height - 62 mm); 452 f; Condition: satisfactory.
The manuscript was acquired by the community of Old believers-pilgrims living in the Tomsk-Chulym taiga. The manuscript has traces of old restoration (binding was replaced, folios were glued up). Restoration date – 20th century, place of restoration – Taiga Skit of the Old Believers-pilgrims.
