Books from the cell library of Theophan the Recluse in the OR RSL

Abstract: During his seclusion, Saint Theophan acquired a significant library of handwritten books. The author of this article examines the fate of the cell library of the Vyshensky Recluse. At the moment, only three books that were in the archpastor’s cell have been found in the manuscript department of the Russian State Library. Abstract. Saint Theophan acquired a significant library of handwritten books during the period of the closure. The author of this article explores the fate of the Recluse’s of Vysha cell library. At the moment, only three books have been found in the manuscripts department of the Russian State Library, which was in the cell of the archpastor. Recent discoveries made in the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library give reason to once again turn to the history of the cell library of St. Theophan the Recluse (1815–1894). His Grace Theophan, secluded from the world in a cell in the secluded Vyshenskaya hermitage, lost in the forests of the Tambov province, collected publications and manuscripts until his last days. Information about the volume and composition of the library is known to us from a detailed description made shortly after the death of the saint by the librarian of the Moscow Theological Seminary Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kolosov, as well as from the inventory stored in the Athos Panteleimon Monastery. The volume of the cell library was approximately 3,400 volumes, not counting periodicals and brochures. Kolosov divided the library's books into 20 thematic sections: patrolology of Min; Holy Scripture; Christian apologetics and history of religions; moral, comparative and dogmatic theology; biblical and gospel history; patrolology; general church history; history of Western Christian confessions; Russian church history; sermons; liturgics; philosophy; general history; Russian history; literature; medicine; natural science; linguistics; cartography and periodicals. In 1895, the beloved nephew of Saint Theophan, Alexey Gavrilovich Govorov, died. His minor children were left orphans, so the appointed guardians decided to sell the library to ensure their existence. The buyers were Moscow merchants, hereditary honorary citizens, major industrialists and philanthropists Alexander (1850–1917), Mikhail, Sergei and Konstantin Losev. After the acquisition, the Losevs donated the collection of books and manuscripts of St. Theophan to the parish library-reading room opened by decree of the emperor in 1897 at the Moscow Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Tolmachi. The parish library was named after Luke and Matvey Vasilyevich Losev, and by decision of the church council, anyone could use it free of charge. In 1903, the library of the church in Tolmachi moved to a new two-story building specially built for it, where the parochial school was located. After the revolutionary events of 1917, the Tolmachev Library ceased to exist, and its fate remained unknown for a long time. Back in 2011, I was able to establish that after the revolution, the parish library of the church in Tolmachi entered the library of the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment (Likhov Lane, building 6), which since 1917 was in the department of the State Historical Museum [6, p. 103; 5, pp.97–98]. In October 1921, the Historical Museum transferred the library in Likhov Lane to the State Rumyantsev Museum. In the summer of 1922, the branch office of the Rumyantsev Museum in Likhov Lane was closed due to a reduction in staff, and in October of the same year the entire Tolmachev Library (also known as the library of St. Feofan) was moved to the main building of the museum library. Two years later, in 1924, the State Lenin Library (now the RSL) was opened on the basis of the library of the Rumyantsev Museum. Over time, the books and manuscripts carefully collected by Saint Theophan were distributed to various library collections of the Lenin Library. This year I was able to identify in the collections of the Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library three handwritten books that were previously part of the cell library of St. Theophan. The leaves of all three manuscripts bear the stamp of the Tolmachev Library: “Parish Library named after Luke and Matvey Vasilyevich Losev.” Such a stamp was affixed to all the books and manuscripts of St. Theophan after they ended up in Tolmachi. It should be noted that the Tolmachev Library contained not only books and manuscripts that belonged to St. Theophan. Thus, the rector of the church in Tolmachi and editor of “Soulful Reading,” Archpriest Dimitry Kasitsyn donated his book collection to the parish library. These books, in addition to the stamp of the Losev Library, have the stamp “From the books of the Honored Professor Archpriest Dimitry Feodorovich Kasitsyn.” In this regard, it is especially important that the sheets of documents identified in the Department of Manuscripts of the RSL do not contain any stamps other than the stamp of the Losev Library. This allows us to assert with a high degree of probability that all three discovered manuscripts were part of the cell library of St. Theophan. The first identified manuscript book is the Liturgy of John Chrysostom with additional articles [1]. It dates from the end of the 16th – beginning of the 17th centuries. The manuscript was created in the Balkans (possibly in Constantinople itself), written in brown ink, by the hand of a single scribe, in calligraphic liturgical minuscule. On the sheets are cinnabar initials with images of stylized leaves, birds, and dragons. The volume of the manuscript is 40 sheets. It is interesting that this Liturgy of John Chrysostom entered the GBL much later than the entire Tolmachev Library - between 1928 and 1932. The second handwritten book identified is the Chronicle Code [2]. The preservation of the manuscript is incomplete - it is missing the beginning. The book is written in half-book, the binding is leather boards with gold and simple embossing. The volume of the manuscript is 462 l. The chronicle is close to Sofia I and Uvarovskaya, bringing the narrative up to June 26, 1709 (victory over the Swedes). In addition to the chronicle, the manuscript contains the lengthy Russian Truth (without end) and the Charter of Prince Yaroslav. Between the sheets of the book were inserted two sheets of cursive writing, now separated into a separate storage unit [4]. The sheets are entitled: “The Decency of the Apocalyptic Seven Churches”, dated to the first quarter of the 19th century, the author has not been identified. The third handwritten book identified is the “Defensive Writings of Jacob Boehm” - the famous German mystic and theosophist Jacob Boehme (1575–1624) [3]. The manuscript dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, written by the hand of Semyon Ivanovich Gamaleya 1 (1743–1822). The volume of the manuscript is 221 l. The binding is cardboard, with leather spines and corners. The title is embossed in gold on the spine. On l.2 - autograph of Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov 2 (1744–1818) - note to the bookbinder: text of the title in the frame and instructions - “Bind in the spine, like the previous ones.” On l.3 there is a miniature in black watercolor - “Figure for protective writings.” Behind it is “Explanation of the figure for defensive writings.” The manuscript also contains “Libri apologetici” - “Defensive writings against Balthasar Tielken, a Silesian nobleman” (1621), “Antistiefelius” - “Discourse on the little book of Isaiah Stiefel of Langensalz on the threefold state of man and his new birth” (1621), “On the misconceptions of Isaiah Stiefel and Ezekiel Meth regarding the perfection of man" (1622), "Apologetica contra Gregorius Richter" - "Defensive speech against Gregory Richter, the leading parish priest in Görlitz" (April 10, 1624), as well as "Written response to the magistrate of Görlitz against the blasphemy, lies and persecution of this rector of the printed book of repentance" (April 3 1624). Currently, the Tolmachev Library no longer represents a single whole. Three manuscripts from the cell library of St. Theophan were identified in the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library, and a number of printed publications were found in its main collection. One Greek manuscript with the stamp of the Losev Library is in the Russian National Library (RNB). Several publications with the stamp of the Losev Library ended up in the collections of the National Library of the Republic of Belarus and the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts. Moreover, books with the Losev Library stamp often appear at various online auctions (Cabinet auction house, Litfond auction house, etc.). This deprives us of the hope of ever - physically or virtually - putting together the library of St. Theophan the Recluse. All that remains is to preserve what can still be preserved. 1. OR RSL. F. 181 (Collected manuscripts in Greek). No. 38. 2. OR RSL. F. 178 (Museum collection). No. 5710.1. 3. OR RSL. F. 178 (Museum collection). No. 5733. 4. OR RSL. F. 178. No. 5710.2. 5. Report of the State Rumyantsev Museum for 1916–1922. M.: State Publishing House, 1923. pp. 97–98. 6. Chudinov D.A. Search and identification of materials related to the name of St. Theophan the Recluse in the collections of the Scientific Research Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library // Theophan’s Readings. Collection of scientific articles. Vol. 5. Ryazan, 2012. P. 103. Gamaleya, Semyon Ivanovich (1743–1822), translator, poet and freemason, one of N.I.’s associates. Novikova. Novikov, Nikolai Ivanovich (1744–1818), famous Russian educator, critic, journalist and publisher, public figure and Freemason.