Sharaknots (1 results)

12mo (95 x 138 mm). 348 ff. Armenian black and occasional red ink on paper and vellum, 21 lines. With a half-page miniature depicting the Resurrection, two half-page opening headpieces with corresponding marginal illumination (all in colours and gilt), pretty marginal decoration and red and blue penwork initials. Bound in contemporary Armenian full tan calf, alla-greca style, with fore-edge flap. Covers and flat spine show simpler blindstamped decoration, with more elaborate tooling to flap. Pastedowns covered with red and cream floral cloth. A precious, uncommonly early manuscript of the great Armenian hymn collection known as the Sharaknots, remarkable for the quality of its calligraphy as well as its extensive decorations. According to the colophon, the manuscript was produced in 1606 at the expense of a certain Ghukas (Lucas) and his family, in witness of their devotion. - This manuscript is distinguished by its illumination and wealth of marginal décor, which all follow the Armenian iconographic tradition of the early 17th century. They include a half-page miniature depicting the Resurrection of the Christ, as well as two trellis-like headpieces, splendidly coloured and gilt. There are also several decorative headbands in red and blue inks, while the margins are very appealingly decorated throughout, showing the Virgin and the Child, various saints (including St John's head on a platter), birds (some with human heads), a fish with Jonah's head protruding from its mouth, and various beasts, as well as numerous intertwined geometric and floral designs. - The Book of Hymns of the Armenian Church, called "Sharaknots" or simply "Sharakan", contains well over a thousand hymns that are sung during the Armenian liturgical service. The theology of the Armenian Church is perhaps most exquisitely expressed in her hymns. Most of the sharakans were composed by the great saints of the Armenian Church, while some of them are very early translations of anonymous sacred music that goes back to early Christian times. The first printed edition of the Sharaknots was published by Voskan Yerevantsi in Amsterdam in 1646, twenty years before the first printed edition of the Armenian Bible and fully four decades after the creation of this manuscript. - A rare and precious survival preserved in its original first binding, definitely also of Armenian origin. - Top spine-end professionally restored; wants ties. Extensive worming throughout, some quite severe, also extending into the text with occasional loss.