Petr Ivanovich Mangilev,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Yekaterinburg Theological Seminary, Yekaterinburg, Russia, e‑mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Manuscripts and Early Printed Books in Church Collections of Yekaterinburg
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2026-2-12
This article presents a brief overview of five collections of manuscript and early printed books held in church educational and outreach institutions of the Yekaterinburg Diocese, as well as in parish churches. In total, the book collections reviewed in this article comprise 104 items from the 16th to 20th centuries. Among the books found in church book collections are: the didactic Gospel “without foliation” (Vilna, circa 1595), six editions of the Moscow Print Yard of the 17th century, editions of the Synodal, Edinoverie and Old Believer presses, two books of the civil press, published before 1830. Of the available handwritten books, a collection of songs on hook notes, copied in 1911−1914 in Kazan, stands out. Also of interest is the lithographed Old Believer edition of the singing alphabet (“Azbuka solevaya”). Many books contain inscriptions of contributions, owners, gifts, and memorials on their pages. Among the books are publications from the libraries of the holy martyr Lev Yershov (1867−1918) and Archpriest John Storozhev (1878−1927), who conducted a service in the Ipatiev House two days before the execution of the royal family. The material presented in the article clearly shows that archaeographic work in the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church appears promising. Descriptions of identified literary monuments will help ensure their preservation. Early printed and handwritten books are used in parishes and church institutions for historical and religious education. In this regard, a pressing task is to train parish library staff in basic skills for working with old books.
Publishing: 28/04/2026
The article has been received by the editor on 29/10/2025
How to cite: Mangilev P.I. Manuscripts and Early Printed Books in Church Collections of Yekaterinburg // Historical Courier, 2026, No. 2 (46), pp. 167−181. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2026/ISTKURIER-2026-2-12.pdf]
Links: Issue 2 2026
Keywords: archaeography; church book collections; rare books; early printed books; Yekaterinburg diocese