Paper: Russian machine-made paper without labels and with stamps (cut out). A cutout stamp (“Antichrist sign”) is a characteristic of Old Believer manuscripts. Writing style: half-uncial script by several hands. Cyrillic numeric pagination (scribers and composer’s). Decoration: headings and initials with vermilion and red inks; schematic head-piece (f. 58); head-piece with floral ornament (f. 248), initials with floral ornament (f. 60, 89, 91, 110-113, 115, 117, 119, 121, 122, 125, 127, 128, 131, 134-137, 139, 143, 148, 150-153, 155, 157-160, 162, 167, 170, 172, 174, 178, 187, 196, 198, 216, 248-250, 256, 257); end-piece in the so-called style Playing Text [игра текстом] – triangle-shaped objects (f. 72, 92, 95, 100, 105, 127, 129, 134, 135, 149, 153, 161-163, 215, 217, 249); schematic and added with the so-called style Playing Text [игра текстом] end-pieces – triangle-shaped objects (f. 120, 126, 132, 137, 138, 143, 156, 157, 160, 169, 171, 177, 179).
The manuscript is materials for polemics with the community of the Old Believers-"titovtsy" [титовцы] (marginalia on f. 16 – “This testimony is given to the titovtsy-traitors" [Удостоверение сие дано титовским предодателям//Udostoverenie sie dano titovskim predodateliam]) located on the left bank of the Ob River, and contains several groups of texts: 1) bibliographical references to the Bible and the Prolog about Old Testament History and quotations from the Homilies of St. John Chrysostom for Easter week and the 4th week of Lent; 2) extract from books of the Old Testament about heretics; 3) extracts about Old Testament prophets and essays from Acts and Epistles of the Apostles (the Apostle), the Prolog, the Taktikon of Nikon of Black Mountain, and Margarit (The Pearl) of John Chrysostom; 4) extracts on Christian faith, liturgy and heretics from the Prolog, the Taktikon of Nikon of Black Mountain, Scete Patericon, The Great Mirror [Зерцало Великое] and a fragment from essay of an Old Believer writer Aleksei Iakovlev (Balchuzhnyi) [Алексей Яковлев (Балчужный)] Stostateinik [100 articles // Стостатейник] (1775); 5) extracts from the Book of Psalms with vossledovanie about Holy Communion.
(Binding: 1930s, wooden binding, canvas, 1 clasp. Readers’ notes and a textile bookmark. Enclosures – 1) fragment of letter, 2) greeting card.
4° (size of book block – 216 mm х 167 mm, binding size - 230 mm х 171 mm, binding height – 52 mm). 2 enclosures: enclosure #1 – 1 f. (205 mm х 169 mm), enclosure #2 – 1 f. (190 mm х 140 mm); 281 f. 2 f. (enclosure); Condition: satisfactory. The manuscript was composed in the community of Old believers-pilgrims living in the Tomsk-Chulym taiga. The manuscript has traces of work with the sammelband: f. 25-38 have added backfilled and enlarged folios.
