Dialogues on Death and Repentance.

An Old Believers' miscellany, with interesting annotations from a community in the village of Tolozhno, in the Okulovsky district, near Novgorod. Among the annotations is the 19th-century inscription "No passport", likely a reference to the Old Believers' resistance to owning state documents. Some Old Believers saw the very act of owning a passport as a sin, as equalling "the seal of the Antichrist" (Mon. Chr. Spec., p. 650). There is also an ownership inscription whereby Dariy Ivanovich gave this book to "the sweet" Katerina Mikhailovna. Old Believers' manuscripts typically blended the biblical, the hagiographic, and the didactic, canonical and traditional motifs, as well as scriptural, apocryphal, and popular sources. Generally, they saw printing itself "as a symbol of detested Tsarist authority" (Carey, p. 207), fostering a large manuscript production within local communities. This miscellany comprises nine dialogues, preceded by an introduction, on death and repentance, all based on the works of the most important Orthodox authorities, including the Greek and Syrian Church Fathers and the Saints of the Russian Church, such as John Chrysostom, Theophylact, Athanasius, Dorotheus, and Methodius of Patara. Archpriest Avvakum (d. 1682), a major opposer of Nikon's reforms, is also mentioned. The community of the Old Believers (Raskolniki) developed after the religious reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon in 1652, which advocated greater alignment with the practices of the Greek Orthodox Church. Nikon's reforms met with strong resistance by the supporters of the old Russian ritual in Moscow. The Pan-Orthodox Synod (1666), spearheaded by Tsar Alexis, precipitated the situation towards a schism (raskol) of the Russian Orthodox Church; previously-imprisoned Old Believers were declared heretical and sentenced to exile and imprisonment in remote monasteries. "The mass flight of Old Believers from persecution by the authorities, towards the outskirts of Russia, contributed to the creation of centres of Old Believer manuscript literature" (Medvedeva, p. 69), especially in remote areas of the country. Provenance: Katerina Mikhailovna, Tolozhno, Novgorod - Arno Collection, New York (-1995)- Sam Fogg, London, April 1995 - Martin Schøyen. N.I. Medvedeva, 'Repertuar staroobrjadcheskoj rukopisnoj knigi v Rossii: XVIII-XX vv.', Vestnik SPbGIK, vol. 17, 2013; The Monthly Christian Spectator, 1851-1859, 1858. Octavo (160 x 100 mm), manuscript on paper. Ff. 70 (- fol.19), 25 lines per full page in Cyrillic half-uncial. Watermark: Pro Patria by J. Honig (cf. Klepikov I, 1135 and 1144, dated 1762 and 1765). Rubricated headings and initials, 2 black and green ornamental headpieces and borders. Contemporary Russian black calf over bevelled wooden boards, outer border double blind ruled with dentelles, central panel with lozenge-shaped centrepiece and stamped fleurons in blind to corners, all edges red. Later Russian inscriptions in ink, pencil, and red crayon to one blank and last verso. Extremities rubbed, minor loss to front cover, lacking two clasps, half a dozen scattered small worm holes, a little craquelure to spine, contents toned, light water stain and finger soiling to lower margin, occasionally to centre, long clean tear along outer border of one decorated border, one leaf torn away: a very good example.…