Race against Time: Safekeeping and Restoration of Books in the Byzantine Libraries of the Monasteries of Mount Athos

The paper deals with the problem of organisation of the libraries of the monasteries of Mount Athos in the Byzantine and post-Byzantine eras. The available data allow us to identify the locations of the monasteries of Mount Athos where books were kept and trace their movements between them. Unique information on the movements of codices between monasteries is also analysed. Certain rhythms of time for the storage, cataloguing, reading and restoration of books and documents are explored. The main cultural and archival function of the Greek libraries of Mount Athos — the accumulation and preservation of books and documents — is shown through specific examples. Athonite librarians were actively engaged in the “production of eternity”, i.e., either preventing the physical aging of books or transferring texts from old media to new ones. It was book culture and the tradition of material support for intellectual pursuits (the creation, preservation and restoration of books), including on Mount Athos, that played a crucial role in the preservation and transmission of the Byzantine book heritage after the destruction of the Byzantine Roman Empire.

Keywords

library, Byzantine libraries, library space and time, book storage, book cataloguing, book restoration, monasteries of Mount Athos

Received

27.09.2023

Publication date

27.12.2023

Number of characters

34105

Cite

GOST	Zakharova A., Kurysheva M. Race against Time: Safekeeping and Restoration of Books in the Byzantine Libraries of the Monasteries of Mount Athos // ISTORIYA – 2023. – V. 14. – Issue 12 (134). Part 1 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840028499-7-1 (circulation date: 14.05.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840028499-7
MLA	Zakharova, Anna, Kurysheva, Marina "Race against Time: Safekeeping and Restoration of Books in the Byzantine Libraries of the Monasteries of Mount Athos." ISTORIYA 14.12-1 (134) (2023) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840028499-7
APA	Zakharova A., Kurysheva M. (2023). Race against Time: Safekeeping and Restoration of Books in the Byzantine Libraries of the Monasteries of Mount Athos. ISTORIYA 14(12-1 (134)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840028499-7

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 66

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Grigorovich-Barskij V. Vtoroe poseschenie Svyatoj Afonskoj Gory Vasiliya Grigorovicha-Barskogo im samim opisannoe. M., 2004.

2. Dobrynina Eh. N. Fenomen «spolij» v istorii rukopisnoj knigi i codex restauratus Marc. gr. Z 12 // Vizantijskij vremennik. T. 101 (2017). M., 2018. S. 203–212.

3. Drevnosti monastyrej Afona X—XVII vekov v Rossii: Iz muzeev, bibliotek, arkhivov Moskvy i Podmoskov'ya. Katalog vystavki. M., 2004.

4. Zakharova A. V., Kurysheva M. A. Chetveroevangelie A 15 iz Lavry Sv. Afanasiya na Afone: pocherk i miniatyury // Monfokon: Issledovaniya po paleografii, kodikologii i diplomatike. 8 / otv. red. M. V. Bibikov. M., 2022. S. 220—233.

5. King R. Knigotorgovets iz Florentsii. SPb., 2022.

6. Kurysheva M. A. Restavratsiya grecheskikh rukopisej v Ivirskom monastyre na Afone v pervoj polovine XVI v. // Spetsial'nye istoricheskie distsipliny. Vyp. 1 / otv. red. B. L. Fonkich. M., 2014. S. 169—188.

7. Markova T. B. Biblioteka v istorii kul'tury. SPb., 2008.

8. Tyulenev V. M. K voprosu o biblioteke Vivariya // Vestnik Ivanovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 2020. № 1. S. 77—87.

9. Fonkich B. L. Arsenij Sukhanov i grecheskie rukopisi Patriarshej biblioteki v Moskve // Fonkich B. L. Grecheskie rukopisi i dokumenty v Rossii v XIV — nachale XVIII v. M., 2003. S. 126—130.

10. Fonkich B. L. Issledovaniya po grecheskoj paleografii i kodikologii: IV—XIX vv. / otv. red. M. A. Kurysheva. M., 2014.

11. Fonkich B. L. Materialy dlya istorii grecheskikh srednevekovykh bibliotek (Biblioteka Iverskogo monastyrya na Afone v kontse XV — nachale XVI v.) // Palestinskij sbornik. L., 1970. Vyp. 23 (86): Vizantiya i Vostok. S. 26—27.

12. Schavelev A. Reports about Byzantine Interpreters, 890—960s: toward the Comprehension of Communicatory Practices in the Romanland // ISTORIYA. 2020. Vol. 11. Is. 9 (95). URL: https://history.jes.su/s207987840012336-8-1/ DOI: 10.18254/S207987840012336-8

13. Bakirtzis N. Library Spaces in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monasteries // Modern Greek Studies Yearbook. 2006/2007. Vol. 22/23. Minneapolis, 2012. P. 39—62.

14. Bossina L. How Many Books Does It Take to Make an Emperor’s Library? Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus and a Chapter of History of the Manuscript Book // Libraries in the Manuscript Age / Studies in Manuscript Cultures. B.; Boston, 2023. Vol. 29. P. 161—182.

15. Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents: A Complete Translation of Surviving Founders’ Typika and Testaments / eds. J. Thomas, A. Constantinides Hero. Washington (DC), 2000.

16. Cashion D. T. Cataloging Medieval Manuscripts, from Beasts to Bytes // Digital Philology. A Journal of Medieval Cultures. 2016. Vol. 5 (2). P. 135—159.

17. Castilla de N., Déroche F., Friedrich F. Towards a Comparative Study of Libraries in the Manuscript Age // Libraries in the Manuscript Age / Studies in Manuscript Cultures. B.; Boston, 2023. Vol. 29. P. 1—13.

18. Chronogpahiae quae Theophanis Continuati nomine fertur. Lib. I–IV / Rec. M. Featherstone et J. S. Codoñer [CFHB. Vol. XLIII. Ser. Berolinensis]. B., 2015.

19. Ennis M. G. The Vocabulary of the Institutiones of Cassiodorus. With Special Advertence to the Technical Terminology & its Sources. Washington D. C., 1939.

20. Houston G. W. Inside Roman Libraries: Book Collections and Their Management in Antiquity (Studies in the History of Greece and Rome). Chapel Hill, 2014.

21. Litsas E. Palaeographical Researches in the Lavra Library on Mount Athos // Ελληνικά. 2000. T. 50. P. 223—228.

22. MacLeod R. M. The Library of Alexandria: Centre of Learning in the Ancient World. L., 2000.

23. Mylonas P. Le catholicon de Kutlumus (Athos). Le dernière étape de la formation du catholikon athonite: l’apparition des typicaria // Cahiers archéologiques. 1994. T. 42. P. 77—85.

24. Nicetas D. The Life of Patriarch Ignatius / Text and transl. by A. Smithes, notes by J. M. Duffy. Washington, 2013.

25. Papademetriou G. C. The Patriarchal Libraries of Constantinople // The Greek Orthodox Theological Review. 2000. No. 1—4. P. 171—190.

26. Pérez Martín I. Byzantine Libraries: The Public and the Private // Libraries in the Manuscript Age / Studies in Manuscript Cultures. B.; Boston, 2023. Vol. 29. P. 183—208.

27. Staikos K. Sp. The Architecture of Libraries in Western Civilization: From the Minoan Era to Michelangelo. New Castle; Athens, 2017.

28. Staikos K. Sp. The History of the Library in Western Civilization. III. The Byzantine Word: From Constantine the Great to Cardinal Bessarion: Imperial, Monastic, School and Private Libraries in the Byzantine World / transl. T. Cullen & D. Hardy. New Castle; Athens, 2007.

29. Stanković N. Tradition, Innovation and Individual Creation in Monastic Architecture: The Case of St Athanasius the Athonite and the Katholikon of his Great Lavra // Iskusstvo vizantijskogo mira. Individual'nost' v khudozhestvennom tvorchestve. Sb. st. v chest' O. S. Popovoj / red. A. V. Zakharova, O. V. Ovcharova i I. A. Oretskaya. M., 2021. S. 536—542.

30. Vita Ignatii. 89 Nicetas David. The Life of Patriarch Ignatius / Text & transl. by A. Smithies, with notes by J.M. Duffy. Washington D.C., 2013.

31. Volk O. Die byzantinischen Klosterbibliotheken von Konstantinopel, Thessalonike und Kleinasien. München, 1955.

32. Voyadjis S. The “Tzimiskes” Tower of the Great Lavra Monastery // Mount Athos and Byzantine Monasticism. Papers from the 28th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Birmingham, March 1994 / ed. A. A. M. Bryer & M. B. Cunningham. Aldershot, 1996. P. 189—204.

33. Wilson N. G. The Libraries of the Byzantine World // Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies. 1967. Vol. 8. P. 53—80.

34. Βογιατσής Σ. Το καθολικό της Ιεράς Μονής Μεγίστης Λαύρας στο Άγιον Όρος. Ιστορία και αρχιτεκτονική. Αθήνα, 2019.

35. Θεολόγος Ιβηρήτης, μοναχός. Ιστορικό περίγραμμα της συλλογής των ελληνικών χειρογράφων της Ιεράς Μονής Ιβήρων // Σωτηρούδης Π. Ιερά Μονή Ιβήρων. Κατάλογος ελληνικών χειρογράφων. Άγιον Όρος, 1998. Τ. Α΄ (1—100). Σ. 239—250.

36. Θεωχαρίδης Π. Το παλιό ηγουμενείο-σκευοφυλάκιο της Μεγίστης Λαύρας. Ιστορία, έρευνα και πρόταση αποκατάστασης // Η Δεκάτη. Περιοδική έκδοση της 10ης Εφορείας βυζαντινών αρχαιοήτων. 2005—2006. Τ. 2. Σ. 77—87.

37. Ιωάννης Κομνηνός. Προσκυνητάριον τον Αγίου Όρους του Άθωνος. Μονή Συναγώβου Ούγγροβλαχίας, 1701.

38. Λάμπερτς Ε. Η βιβλιοθήκη και τα χειρόγραφά της // Ιερά Μεγίστη Μονή Βατοπαιδίου. Παράδωση — Ιστορία — Τέχνη. Τ. Β΄. Άγιο Όρος, 1996. Σ. 562—574, 672—677.

39. Παχώμιος Ρουσάνος 450 χρόνια ἀπὸ τὴν κοίμησή του (†1553). Ἀθήναι, 2005.

40. Πολίτης Λ. Ἁγιορεῖτες βιβλιογράφοι τοῦ 16ου αἰώνα // Ἑλληνικά. 15. Ἀθῆναι, 1957. Σ. 365—379, εἰκ. 4—5.

41. Σκλαβενίτης Τ. Η βιβλιοθήκη των εντύπων της μονής Μεγιστης Λαύρας του Άθω // Μνήμων. 1987. Τ. 11. Σ. 83—122.

42. Χρυσοχοΐδης Κρ. Τὸ βιβλιογραφικὸ ἐργαστήριο τῆς Μονῆς Ἰβήρων στὶς πρῶτες δεκαετίες τοῦ 16ου αἰώνα // Ἡ Ἑλληνικὴ Γραφὴ κατὰ τοὺς 15ο καὶ 16ο αἰῶνες. Ἀθήνα, 2000. Σ. 533—545.