Kanonik. [Book of Canons].

£35,000 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books · No longer available

beautifully illustrated with 35 full-page illuminations An exceptionally fine example of an Old Believer liturgical book, beautifully illustrated with 35 full-page illuminations. Created by a skilful master, they depict in great detail the most significant events of the New Testament including the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Baptism of Christ, the Ascension, the Twelve Apostles and more. This volume was made for and used by Old Believers, who separated from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1652 and 1666. These Old Believers refused to accept alterations and amendments to the Holy texts aimed at bringing their religious practice closer to the 'original' Greek Orthodoxy. They refused to allow sacred texts to be printed, instead reproducing them as manuscripts. The large size of this book, its high-quality paper, neat script, very detailed illuminations, and attractive gilt binding prove beyond doubt that no expense was spared on its production. As the colophon indicates, it was made for Evdokiia Ivanovna Babaeva, the wife of a merchant in Kolomna, which was then an important trade point near Moscow. There are records of several men with this surname in Kolomna during the mid-XIX century, all of them owners of factories in the city and probably members of the same wealthy merchant family. Kolomna was also important as a centre of the Old Believer community. The city's Bishop, Paul, fierce

• Binding: Hardcover

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