About the Reading Circle of the Siberian Old Believers on the Example of the Collection B-777

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the reading and writing practices of the Siberian Old Believers of the 18th century and determine the place of Old Russian texts in their reading repertoire. Methods of textology and codicology are used. The article considers one of collections copied in the Siberian Old Believer environment at the end of 18th century – Old Believer collection B–777 from the Tomsk State University Research Library. On the basis of scriber’s records the conclusion is made about the place where collection was created: it is Altay and the south of Western Siberia. The composition of the collection is analyzed, the main groups of texts included in it are listed. It is proved that the collection belongs to the well–known “library in one binding” model, which allows reconstructing the reading circle of its scriber, as well as the owner. It is shown that along with later texts, texts of Old Russian tradition are also presented. It is concluded that the texts of Old Russian tradition were not always reproduced in the later Old Believers communities as a result of a continuous handwritten tradition, and were sometimes copied from books of the Cyrillic print. The creative nature of the reader’s practices of the collection owner, who significantly revised the text of Cyril of Turov, is substantiated.