Marzanetsi Grigor (1 results)

Large 4to. (32.3 x 19.2 cm). pp. i +v +vii + Fatt (957 pages); 87 gatherings of 6 page each, text in double columns. The numbering of the gatherings and the pages in Armenian letters is at the foot of the pages; 4 full page engravings and 22 smaller engravings of portraits of saints in the margins. Binding is from the 19-century and is of wooden boards covered with woven cloth, with floral patterns. On the front cover there is a Crucifix (added later) surrounded by a frame made of red, white and green stones. Colophon on pages 934- 937. Binding badly rubbed and frayed, crude repairs to several leaves, some leaves re-margined, light toning and occasional light spotting. This is a Synaxarium (Yaysmawurk), a collection of stories of the lives and martyrdom of the Saints. The Armenian Synaxarium was composed between the 5th and 15th centuries. It has four different editions. This publication follows the edition of the 13th century historian Kirakos of Gandzak. Title page and pages 1-2 missing. The full page frontispieces with engravings on both sides represent: 1) ????Saint Gregory the illuminator seated on a throne, blessing King Trdat and Queen Ashken and in the background the Cathedral Church of St Etchmiadzin ????2) St Gregory enthroned. The two pictures tell the story of the conversion of Armenia to Christianity in 301, by the conversion of the king and queen by St Gregory the Illuminator. (Voskanyan Ninel, Hay Girk'e 1512-1800 tvakannerin The Armenian Book between 1512-1800], Erevan, 1988, entries 227 & 228, pp. 162-166).