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Section 14. Philology and linguistics
Section 14. Philology and linguistics
Morozova Yuliya Grigoryevna, Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor, A. I. Evdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry
E-mail: [email protected]
«Miterikon»: history of the book in Russia
Abstract: The article presents history of an ancient Greek book «Miterikon». In Russia, the book was reprinted several times with typos, errors and inaccuracies, which is, from scientific point of view, the most important moment in the life of a text and its perception by a reader.
Keywords: Miterikon; primary source; issue and reissue; translation; cultural code; the text’s life.
«Miterikon» is a collection composed by a great Christian ascetic, who is believed to have lived in V-VI century. The book (its full name is «Miterikon, the collection of instructions of Abba Isaiah to honorable nun Feodora») is of a big value due to the sacred character of the text, its antiquity and little exploration. The destiny of the book and history of its publication in Russia is interesting.
The following can be said about the structure of the book: it is a text in a text. The spiritual words of female ascetics (Melaniya, Sinklitikiya, Matryona etc.) «frame» the messages and instructions of Abba Isaiah to honorable nun Feodora. In other words, «Miterikon» was drawn up by the author (who also had the name Isaiah, but lived at a later time, tentatively in X century), who made his own comments, current for that time, using the text of V-VI century, ancient legends and words of Abba Isaiah. Thus, the book (or, more precisely, one of its codices (There are several versions of «Miterikon».
1) The manuscript of Xenothonic Monastery on Mount Athos (№ 736, 14-15 century);
2) Lesbos Monastery of John the Apostle (№ 9, 1415 century);
3) Iviron Monastery on Mount Athos (№ 6685, 17 century);
4) The Public library of Saint-Petersburg (today, the Russian National Library) (Greek № 243, the year of 1450);
5) Paris National Library (1787). The Manuscript of the Public Library distinguishes itself among other codices due to better preservation, which allows reading the text easily. The explanation of the text with miniatures (the book contains 48 miniatures) also distinguishes the manuscript № 243 among other codices. Our article is about the manuscript № 243.)) contains the texts of different epochs.
However, other questions arise. For instance, what language the ancient text used by the author of the book was written in?
Supposedly, the ancient text was written in Latin, or, maybe, in Greek, or, which is also possible, in Coptic. It is
quite possible that Abba Isaiah gave the words of female ascetics from memory, because the most known statements of the saints (especially of the primary Christian epoch) were often rendered orally.
However, the manuscript of «Miterikon» (№ 243) that was later found in Russia was written in Greek and kept on Mount Athos till XIX century. The book entered Russia due to George Vasilyevich Govorov, alternatively St. Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894). The «Preface» of the Bishop Theophan to the first separate edition of the book prepared in 1891 makes it clear that, firstly, the book was acquired by the archimandrite Porphyrius; secondly, the book was kept on Mount Athos and was taken to Jerusalem from there; thirdly, the translation of the manuscript was done by the Bishop Theophan in Jerusalem. It was the first translation of the book into Russian, which became known to a wide circle of readers due to its publication in the journal «Sunday reading» (« Sunday reading» was a weekly publicly available journal of the Kievan Ecclesiastical Academy published from 1837 to 1912. It was the first journal of spiritual and moral content in Kiev. It was established at the end of1836 by the efforts of the president of the academy the Bishop Innokenty (Borisov) as well as teachers the archpriest John Skvortsov, Ya. K. Amfiteatrov and the bachelor, hieromonk Dmitry (Muretov) who later became the Archbishop of Kherson and Odessa. Upon the petition of the Metropolitan of Kiev and Evgeny Galitsky (Bolkhovitinov), the journal was given a permit for publication at the beginning of 1837. The first edition was 2500 copies) in 1853-1859.
At the same time, there are many other questions. For instance, who is the archimandrite Porphyrius mentioned by the Bishop Theophan? And why did the Athos manuscript end up in Jerusalem? The «Preface» of the books says nothing about it. We learn about the eminent Porphyrius (Konstantin
Aleksandrovich Uspensky), the keeper of the manuscript, from other sources. Particularly, from the works of the very Father Porphyrius: «This manuscript («Miterikon») was
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Miterikon»: history of the book in Russia
given to me in Jerusalem. It was in the parvis of Arkhangelsky Monastery where our ecclesiastical mission was located from 1848 to May 1854» [9, 134]. The archimandrite Porphyrius (1804-1885) was a bishop, Russian Orientalist, byzantolo-gist, traveler and translator of the Bible. In 1834, holding the rank of an archimandrite, he was appointed the guardian of the Uspensky Monastery in Odessa. He was the professor of theology at Richelieu lyceum from 1838 to 1841 and the principal of Kherson ecclesiastical seminary in Odessa from 1839.
Simultaneously, Father Porphyrius worked at Odessa guardian council for prisons and, upon the task of the archbishop Gavril, inspected ecclesiastical schools; for a while, he served as the guardian of a Polish church in Vienna. In 1843, upon the decision of the Holy Synod, Father Porphyrius started long expeditions across the eastern countries. His task was to study the needs of Orthodoxy in the Turkish territories and the condition of church communities and monuments. Father Porphyrius visited Constantinople, Syria, Palestine, Sinai, Egypt and Mount Athos. The scientist discovered the ancient
Sinai codex of the Bible (1845) at Sinai Monastery of St. Katherine for the first time. The second travel of Father Porphyrius to the East, which is more important to us in relation to the manuscript «Miterikon», took place from 1848 to 1854. The scientist visited Mount Athos and the monasteries of Greece, travelled to Constantinople, Egypt, Asia Minor and Syria. Father Porphyrius spent total 15 years in the East. He did a lot to acquaint Russian scientists and government with the state of matters in the Middle East. Moreover, Father Porphyrius translated several Old Testament books from Greek into Russian (1869-1873): Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, Canticles and Maccabees. The review of Lucian of Antioch on the manuscripts discovered at the Athos book storerooms formed the basis of his translations.
Father Porphyrius died on April 19, 1885 and was buried at the temple named after reverend Roman Sladkopevets of the Novospassky Monastery.
Thus, the manuscript of «Miterikon» was acquired by Father Porphyrius in Jerusalem during his second visit to the East, namely in 1848-1854.
Based upon the «Preface» to «Miterikon» (1891 edition), after the death of the archimandrite Porphyrius, the manuscript of the book was found in the Public library of Saint-Petersburg along with other books of the eminent (Currently, the archive of the eminent Porphyrius is kept in the Saint-Petersburg department of the archive of the Academy of sciences (fund 118)). It is also known from the «Preface» to the 1891 edition that the manuscript of «Miterikon» was as of 1450. Father Porphyrius informed us about it. However, another question arises: where is the original source of the manuscript? If the «Miterikon» was drawn up by Abba Isaiah in X century, who rewrote the manuscript in XV century? There is no information about it either in the «Preface», or works of Father Porphyrius. It is only known that the manuscript of 1450 was rewritten for Elena Kateluzina, the «the grand dame of Ainos located opposite Athos» [9, 134].
The history of the book’s publication in Russia is also interesting. When «Miterikon» was released in 1891, it turned out that the text of the manuscript was «shortened»: the book ended with the 203rd verse of the ecclesiastical instructions of Father Isaiah. Eventually, the editors emphasized this fact in the remarks to the second edition of 1898 and added that «now, additions were made to the «Ecclesiastical nstructions of the monk Isaiah» starting from the 204th chapter till the end» (The Preface to the second edition of «Miterikon»).
Why did the first Russian publishers of «Miterikon» not notice the absence of the end of the text?! They couldn’t publish it without the end deliberately, could they? In the «Preface » to the 1891 edition the bishop Theophan wrote that: «Not everything was translated, not because of me, but due to the condition of the manuscript» (From the «Preface» to the first edition of «Miterikon»).
The second, revised edition of «Miterikon» was done at the typolithography of I. Efimov (I. Efimov — Moscow publisher and bookseller of Orthodox literature), at the publisher’s own house in Bolshaya Yakimanka St. in 1898 with the permission of the Moscow ecclesiastical censor committee (Ecclesiastical censor committee existed as an institution approximately from the end of XVIII to the beginning of XIX.
By the time «Miterikon» was published, the Moscow committee separated from the Moscow ecclesiastical academy as an independent institution) as of December 31, 1897 (the archpriest Ioann Petropavlovsky acted as a censor. Ioann Petropavlovsky (1844-1907) was the protopriest, ecclesiastical writer and professor of the Moscow ecclesiastical academy. But the life of the book didn’t stop there).
«Miterikon» was reissued for the first time in 1995 after many years of oblivion by the publishing house of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery (M., 1995), which was «the repeated reproduction of 1891» as it was indicated on the title page. In 2001, a new edition of «Miterikon» was released at the publishing house of Svyato-Panteleimonov Russian Monastery in Athos indicating that: «printed according to the 1897 edition». Neither of the facts corresponds to reality. As for reprinting, it is most probable that there was a mistake, if not an obvious error. Reprinted edition is a repeated edition from the printed original without repeating type matter, i. e. «edition without types and spacing, the lines of which are reproduced from the pages of some issue used as a reproduced original-model» [4]. But neither the edition of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery nor Svyato-Panteleimonov Russian Monastery in Athos has reprinting,
i. e. the text was typed from scratch in modern orthography (with frequent preservation of the elements of old orthography). Moreover, the book of 1898 and not the 1891 edition («shortened») served as the source of publication, i. e. the full text of the book was reproduced (from the 203rd verse to the 430th inclusive).
Today, one copy of the 1898 edition is kept at the Synodal library of Andreevsky monastery in Plennitsa — Stauropegic men’s monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church located in
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Section 14. Philology and linguistics
Moscow at the foot ofVorobyovy Gory. Curiously other printed texts were bound to the copy of the 1898 edition.
In one binding with «Miterikon», we found the list of editions of Athos Russian Panteleimonov Monastery, «Lay of seven cheese days» of the saint Tikhon Zadon-sky (printed at the Saint-Petersburg synodal typography in 1899 according to the determination of the Holy Synod) as well as instructions of the saint Efrem Sirin «Flowers from the garden of the saint Efrem Sirin» (published in Moscow at the Synodal typography in 1883). Who and why combined these «sacred» texts?! It is clear that the content of an ecclesiastical book for a believer is above formal nuances. The bishop Theophan says about it in his «Preface» (From the «Preface» to the first edition of «Miterikon»: «Not everything is translated, not because of me, but due
to the condition of the manuscript. Nothing significant is lost, though...»). However, for scientists, a book is a carrier of cultural codes, large socio-cultural space, spiritual memory of the mankind through which we learn history. In this aspect, translators, copyists, publishers and keepers of the manuscript of «Miterikon» played an important role in recreation of the historical truth and in the destiny of a separate book. Yes, copyists make mistakes; translators make mistakes; publishers and editors also do, as we can see. Not only a rare book, a historical document or a valuable manuscript suffers from it, but, primarily, history suffers and, eventually, a man themselves. Another question is whether there is a social historical regularity without which the history of a book wouldn’t be a history?! (The word «history» is translated from Greek as «discovering», «inquiring».)
References:
1. Isaiah of Egypt. Miterikon: collection of instructions. - M., Athos Russian Panteleimonov, 1891.
2. Isaiah, Abba of Nitriensis. Miterikon. - M., Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam monastery, 1995.
3. Likhacheva V. D. The role of household realia and landscape in the miniatures of the manuscript of the State Public Li-brary//Byzantian annals, - 1967. - № 27.
4. Milchin A. E. Publishing dictionary and reference: [electronic edition]. - 3rd edition, revised and updated. - M.: OLMA-Press, 2006.
5. Miterikon, collection of instructions of Abba Isaiah to the nun Feodora/translated by the bishop Theophan (Govorov). -Kyiv, 1891.
6. Miterikon, collection of instructions of Abba Isaiah to the honest nun Feodora. - M., 1898.
7. Miterikon, collection of instructions of Abba Isaiah to the honest nun Feodora. 3rd edition. - M., typolithography of I. Efimov, 1908.
8. Miterikon, collection of instructions ofAbba Isaiah to the honest nun Feodora/Epilogue and remarks of Morozova Yu. G. -М., Siberian goodness bell-tower, 2014.
9. Porphyrius (of Uspensk), bishop. Christian East. Athos. History of Athos. - Kyiv, 1877. - P. 3. - Monacal Athos.
Panteleev Audrey Feliksovitch, Southern Federal University, PhD in linguistics, associate Professor, Department of the Language theory and the Russian language
E-mail: [email protected]
Dolmatova Anna Sergeevna, Southern Federal University, Master's degree in linguistics, Department of the Language theory and the Russian language
E-mail: [email protected]
Comparative in the poetry of Russian acmeism
Abstract: This article is devoted to the analysis of structures “comparative + genitive case of nominal parts of speech" in the language of Gumilev’s poetry because he is one of the most typical representatives in Russian acmeism. Comparative in the conjunction with a dependent genitive case of nominal parts of speech is one of the most common means of expressing the intensity of expression in the works of N. S. Gumilev. Examples occupy a special place of use within the meaning of the poet comparatives in the meaning of superlatives.
Keywords: comparative, expressiveness, intensity, intensifier, intensive, superlative.
Expressiveness as one of the properties of a linguistic Genetically a lot of expressive means are fixed by the system
unit is closely related to the category of emotional evalua- of language, including tropes and figures of speech, as well
tion in general and with the expression of the man’s emotions. as techniques for forming the verse trace to the peculiarities
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