Tamara Vasilievna Panich,
Doctor of Philological Sciences, Institute of History of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
“Siberian Epistles” by Ignatiy (Rimsky-Korsakov) in the Structure of Dimitri Rostovsky’s Book “The Search for the Schismatic Bryn Faith”
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2025-3-2
Among the numerous sources (including the works of foreign authors) attracted by Dimitri Rostovsky when writing the treatise “The Search for the schismatic Bryn faith” (1709), a certain place belongs to “Siberian Epistles” of Ignatiy (Rimsky-Korsakov) (1696). The purpose of the article is to consider the specifics of the use of this source by the author of the “Search” and the definition of his place and role in the treatise. Dimitri Rostovsky turned to the “Siberian Epistles” in the third part of the book. He used the source to show the “evil deeds” of the Old Believers (the eighth chapter is called that: “On the deeds of evil”) based on real and fictional events and facts described in the messages. From the first and second epistles of Metropolitan Ignatiy, the author of the “The Search” borrowed information concerning the biographies and facts of the anti-church activities of the main ideological leaders of the Ural‑Siberian Old Believer movement and their views: Iosif Astomen, Yakov Lepikhin, Avraamiy Vengerskiy (he noted the difference in their attitude to the doctrine of voluntary death as an extreme form of protest, to the question of the image of the coming of the Antichrist, etc.). Dimitri Rostovsky was most interested in the third epistle, which is the most extensive and differs from the first and second epistles both in its compositional structure and content. From here, he drew texts on the topic of mass Old Believer self-immolations, as well as stories that reflect the theme of magic, witchcraft, and contain miracles and omens. The author of the “Search”, as well as the author of its source, used the accusation of Old Believers in witchcraft in order to discredit their teachings and ritual practices. Based on the texts of the “Siberian Epistles”, six chapters of the third part of The Search were written (from the eighth to the thirteenth). A comparative analysis of the texts allowed us to determine which chapters or plots were borrowed. It was also possible to identify some of the features of Dimitri Rostovsky’s work with sources. Drawing on the narrative material of the “Siberian Epistles”, the writer used it in accordance with the objectives of his treatise. He did not just quote the finished text, but resorted to various ways of editing it: free retelling, shortening, changing the style, clarifying the meaning of individual phrases, renaming the names of the subjects involved, etc. It can be stated that Ignatiy’s “Siberian Epistles” are one of the most significant texts in “The Search”. The epistles occupy an important place in his compositional structure, forming the basis of several chapters of the third part of the book. For the author of “The Search”, they became a valuable source of information on the history of the Old Believer movement in Siberia, events and facts about the real participants in the Ural-Siberian protest and their leaders, as well as on the history and ideology of the split in general, which Dimitri Rostovsky was not familiar with before, as he himself wrote about it in the preface of the book.
Publishing: 28/06/2025
The article has been received by the editor on 09/04/2025
How to cite: Panich T.V. “Siberian Epistles” by Ignatiy (Rimsky-Korsakov) in the Structure of Dimitri Rostovsky’s Book “The Search for the Schismatic Bryn Faith” // Historical Courier, 2025, No. 3 (41), pp. 28−38. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2025/ISTKURIER-2025-3-02.pdf]
The article was made on the topic of the state assignment “The Past in the Manuscript Sources of the 16th−20th Centuries: Preservation and Development of Traditions” (FWZM-2024-0006).
Links: Issue 3 2025
Keywords: Dimitri Rostovsky; Ignatiy (Rimsky-Korsakov); “The Search for the schismatic Bryn faith”; Old Believers; “Siberian Epistles”