Francis Skaryna small traveler. Small travel book

And Van Fedorov is revered in Rus' as the first printer. But Francis Skorina “from the glorious city of Polotsk” published his “Russian Bible” fifty years before Ivan Fedorov. And in it he clearly indicated that this book “was written for all Russian people.” Francis Skaryna is a Belarusian and East Slavic pioneer printer, translator, publisher and artist. The son of a people living on the European borderland, he brilliantly combined in his work the traditions of the Byzantine East and the Latin West. Thanks to Skaryna, Belarusians received a printed Bible in their native language before Russians and Ukrainians, Poles and Lithuanians, Serbs and Bulgarians, the French and the British...

In general, the first books in Church Slavonic were published by Schweipolt Fiol in Krakow in 1491. These were: “Oktoich” (“Octophonic”) and “Speaker of Hours”, as well as “Lenten Triodion” and “Colorful Triodion”. It is assumed that Fiol released the triodion (without a designated year of printing) before 1491.

In 1494, in the town of Obod on Lake Skadar in the Principality of Zeta (now Montenegro), the first book in the Slavic language of the South Slavs, “Octoichus the First Glas”, was printed by the monk Macarius in the printing house under the auspices of Georgiy Chernoevich. This book can be seen in the sacristy of the monastery in the city of Cetinje. In 1512, Macarius published the Gospel in Ugro-Wallachia (the territory of modern Romania and Moldavia).

In 1517-1519 in Prague, Francis Skorina published the Psalter and 23 other books of the Bible that he translated in Cyrillic script in the Belarusian version of the Church Slavonic language. In 1522, in Vilna (now Vilnius), Skaryna published the “Small Travel Book”. This book is considered the first book printed in the territory that was part of the USSR. There in Vilna in 1525 Francis Skaryna published “The Apostle”. Fedorov’s assistant and colleague, Pyotr Mstislavets, studied with Skaryna.

Francis Skorina - Belarusian humanist of the first half of the 16th century, medical scientist, writer, translator, artist, educator, pioneer of the Eastern Slavs.

Not all the details of Skaryna’s biography have survived to this day; there are still many “blank spots” left in the life and work of the great educator. Even the exact dates of his birth and death are unknown. It is believed that he was born between 1485 and 1490 in Polotsk, in the family of a wealthy Polotsk merchant Luka Skaryna, who traded with the Czech Republic, Muscovite Russia, and Polish and German lands. From his parents, the son adopted a love for his native Polotsk, the name of which he later always used with the epithet “glorious.” Francis received his initial education in his parents' house - he learned to read the Psalter and write in Cyrillic. It is believed that he learned Latin (Francis knew it brilliantly) at a school at one of the Catholic churches in Polotsk or Vilna.

Skorina, the son of a Polotsk merchant, received his first higher education in Krakow. There he took a course in the liberal sciences and was awarded a bachelor's degree. Skaryna also received a Master of Arts degree, which then gave the right to enter the most prestigious faculties (medical and theological) of European universities. Scientists suggest that after the University of Krakow, during 1506-1512, Skaryna served as secretary to the Danish king. But in 1512, he left this position and went to the Italian city of Padua, at the university of which “a young man from very distant countries” (as documents of that time say about him) received the degree of “Doctor of Medicine,” which became a significant event not only in the life of young Francis, but also in the cultural history of Belarus. To this day, in one of the halls of this educational institution, where there are portraits of famous men of European science who came out of its walls, there hangs a portrait of an outstanding Belarusian by an Italian master.

About the period 1512-1516 centuries. We don’t know anything about F. Skorina’s life yet. Modern scientists have suggested that at this time Skaryna traveled around Europe, became acquainted with printing and the first printed books, and also met with his brilliant contemporaries - Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael. The basis for this is the following fact - one of Raphael’s frescoes depicts a man very similar to Skaryna’s self-portrait in the Bible he later published. It is interesting that Raphael painted it next to his own image.

From 1517 Skaryna lived in Prague. Here he started his publishing business and began printing Bible books.

The first book printed was the Slavic “Psalter”, in the preface to which it is stated: “I, Francis Skaryna, son of the glorious Polotsk, a doctor in medicinal sciences, commanded the Psalter to be embossed in Russian words, and in the Slovenian language.” At that time, the Belarusian language was called “Russian language,” in contrast to Church Slavonic, which was called “Slovenian.” The Psalter was published on August 6, 1517.

Then, almost every month, more and more new volumes of the Bible were published: the Book of Job, the Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes... Over two years in Prague, Francis Skorina published 23 illustrated biblical books, translated by him into a language understandable to the general reader. The publisher provided each of the books with a preface and afterword, and included almost fifty illustrations in the Bible.

Around 1520 or a little later, the pioneer printer returned to his homeland and founded the first East Slavic printing house in Vilna. The “Small Travel Book” was published here, which is considered the first book published on Belarusian lands (there is no exact date of publication of the book). Here, in 1525, “The Apostle” was printed, which turned out to be the last book of the pioneer printer - during a fire in Vilna, Francis’s printing house was destroyed. It was with this book that 40 years later, Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets, both natives of Belarus, began Russian book printing in Moscow.

The last fifteen years of Francysk Skaryna’s life are full of hardships and hardships: for some time he serves the Prussian Duke Albrecht the Elder in Konigsberg, then returns to Vilna, where his family lives. For the debts of his deceased brother, Skaryna is sent to Poznan prison. The Polish king Sigismund I released him from trial with a special letter. Around 1535, Francis Skaryna moved to Prague, where he became the personal doctor and garden scientist of King Ferdinand I of Habsburg, who would later become Holy Roman Emperor. 1540 is considered the year of death of the great enlightener.

Before the appearance of the famous Ostrog Bible, Skaryna's editions were the only printed translations of the Holy Scriptures made in the territories of the Eastern and Southern Slavs. These translations became the subject of inheritances and alterations - all East Slavic publishing activity in the field of biblical texts was in one way or another oriented towards Skaryna. This is not surprising - his Bible in many respects was ahead of similar publications in other countries: before the German Martin Luther, not to mention the Polish and Russian publishers. It is noteworthy that the Bible was published in the Old Belarusian language, which largely determined the development of the Belarusian press. The famous “Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania” were printed in the language of Belarus.

Skaryna’s name is also associated with a noticeable increase in attention to the heritage of antiquity. He was perhaps the first in our area to make an attempt to synthesize antiquity and Christianity, and also proposed an educational program developed in Ancient Greece - the “Seven Liberal Sciences” system. Later, it was adopted by fraternal schools in Ukraine and Belarus, developed and improved by professors of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy and greatly contributed to the rapprochement of national culture with the culture of the West.

Only four hundred copies of Skaryna’s books have survived to this day. All editions are very rare, especially the Vilnius editions. Rarities are stored in libraries and book depositories in Minsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Vilnius, Lvov, London, Prague, Copenhagen, Krakow.

Francis Skaryna has long been revered in Belarus. The life and work of F. Skaryna is studied by a complex scientific discipline - Skaryna studies. His biography is studied in schools. Streets in Minsk, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Nesvizh, Orsha, Slutsk and many other cities of Belarus are named after him. Gomel State University is named after F. Skaryna. Monuments to the outstanding scientist were erected in Polotsk, Minsk, Lida, and Vilnius. The last of the monuments was recently installed in the capital of Belarus, next to the entrance to the new National Library.

A special subject has been introduced in all schools in Polotsk - “Polotsk Studies”, in which F. Skorina occupies a worthy place. Events dedicated to the memory of the pioneer printer are held in the city according to a separate plan.

Special awards have been introduced in Belarus - the Skaryna Medal (1989) and the Skaryna Order (1995).

Biography

Francis Skaryna was born in the second half of the 1480s in Polotsk (Grand Duchy of Lithuania) in the family of the merchant Luke. Researcher Gennady Lebedev, relying on the works of Polish and Czech scientists, believed that Skorina was born around 1482.

He received his primary education in Polotsk. Presumably, in 1504 he became a student at the University of Krakow - the exact date is unknown, since the record traditionally referred to is “During [the period of] the rectorship of the venerable father Mr. Jan Amitsin of Krakow, Doctor of Arts and Canon Law, by the grace of God and the Apostolic See of the Bishop of Laodicene and the suffragan of Krakow, as well as the pleban [church] of St. Nicholas outside the walls of Krakow, in the winter semester in the summer of the Lord 1504 the following [persons] are inscribed […] Francis son of Luke from P[o]łock, 2 grosz”, can also apply to any Francis from the Polish city of Plock, especially since the amount of 2 groschen contributed by the “entrant” Francis was small at that time even for a merchant’s son.

In 1506, Skaryna graduated from the faculty of the “seven free arts” (grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music) with a bachelor’s degree, and later received the title of licentiate of medicine and the degree of doctor of “free arts”, as evidenced by a clear registry record: "Francis from Polotsk, Litvin."

After this, Skaryna studied for another five years in Krakow at the Faculty of Medicine, and defended his doctorate of medicine degree on November 9, 1512, having successfully passed the exams at the University of Padua in Italy, where there were enough specialists to confirm this defense. Contrary to popular belief, Skaryna did not study at the University of Padua, but arrived there precisely to take an exam for a scientific degree, as evidenced by the university’s registration record, dated November 5, 1512: “... a certain very learned poor young man arrived, a doctor of arts, originally from very distant countries, perhaps four thousand miles or more from this glorious city, in order to increase the glory and splendor of Padua, and the flourishing collection of philosophers of the gymnasium and our holy College. He appealed to the College with a request to allow him, as a gift and special favor, to undergo trials in the field of medicine by the grace of God under this holy College. If, Your Excellencies, you allow, I will introduce him himself. The young man and the above-mentioned doctor bears the name of Mr. Francis, the son of the late Luka Skaryna from Polotsk, Rusyn...” On November 6, 1512, Skaryna passed trial tests, and on November 9 he brilliantly passed a special exam and received signs of medical merit.

In 1517, he founded a printing house in Prague and published the Psalter, the first printed Belarusian book, in Cyrillic. In total, during the years 1517-1519, he translated and published 23 books of the Bible. Skaryna's patrons were Bogdan Onkov, Yakub Babich, as well as the prince, governor of Troki and the great hetman of Lithuania Konstantin Ostrozhsky.

In 1520 he moved to Vilnia and founded the first printing house on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). In it, Skaryna publishes “The Small Travel Book” (1522) and “The Apostle” (1525).

In 1525, one of the sponsors of the Vilna printing house, Yuri Odvernik, died, and Skaryna’s publishing activities stopped. He marries Odvernik's widow Margarita (she died in 1529, leaving a small child). A few years later, Skaryna’s other patrons of the arts died one by one - the Vilna mayor Yakub Babich (in whose house there was a printing house), then Bogdan Onkov, and in 1530 the Troka governor Konstantin Ostrozhsky.

In 1525, the last master of the Teutonic Order, Albrecht of Brandenburg, secularized the Order and proclaimed in its place the secular Duchy of Prussia, a vassal to the King of Poland. The master was passionate about reform changes, which primarily affected the church and school. For book publishing, Albrecht in 1529 or 1530 invited Francis Skaryna to Königsberg. The Duke himself writes: “Not so long ago we received the glorious husband Francis Skaryna from Polotsk, doctor of medicine, the most honorable of your citizens, who arrived in our possession and the Principality of Prussia, as our subject, nobleman and our beloved faithful servant. Further, since his affairs, property, wife, children, whom he left with you, are his name from here, then, when leaving there, he humbly asked us to entrust your guardianship with our letter...”

In 1529, Francis Skaryna’s elder brother Ivan dies, whose creditors made property claims against Francis himself (apparently, hence the hasty departure with a letter of recommendation from Duke Albrecht). So, Skaryna did not stay in Königsberg and a few months later returned to Vilna, taking with him a printer and a Jewish doctor. The purpose of the act is unknown, but Duke Albrecht was offended by the “theft” of specialists and already on May 26, 1530, in a letter to the Vilna governor Albert Goshtold, demanded the return of these people to the duchy.

On February 5, 1532, the creditors of the late Ivan Skaryna, having addressed a complaint to the Grand Duke and King Sigismund I, sought the arrest of Francis for his brother’s debts under the pretext that Skaryna was supposedly hiding the property inherited from the deceased and constantly moving from place to place (although in fact In fact, Ivan’s son Roman was the heir, but the creditors most likely did not lie about the frequent moves). Francysk Skaryna spent several months in a Poznan prison until his nephew Roman secured a meeting with the king, to whom he explained the matter. On May 24, 1532, Sigismund I issues a decree releasing Francis Skaryna from prison. On June 17, the Poznan court finally decided the case in favor of Skaryna. And on November 21 and 25, King Sigismund, having sorted out the case with the help of Bishop Jan, issues two privileged letters (privileges), according to which Francis Skaryna is not only declared innocent and receives freedom, but also all kinds of benefits - protection from any prosecution (except for royal order), protection from arrest and complete inviolability of property, exemption from duties and city services, as well as “from the jurisdiction and power of each and every individual - governor, castellans, elders and other dignitaries, judges and all judges.”

In 1534, Francis Skaryna made a trip to the Principality of Moscow, from where he was expelled as a Catholic, and his books were burned (see the 1552 letter from the King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Zhigimont II Augustus to Albert Krichka, his ambassador in Rome under Pope Julius III).

Around 1535 Skaryna moved to Prague, where he most likely worked as a doctor or, unlikely, as a gardener at the royal court. The widespread version that Skaryna held the position of royal gardener at the invitation of King Ferdinand I and founded the famous garden on Hradcany has no serious basis. Czech researchers, and after them foreign architectural historians, adhere to the canonical theory that the “garden at the Castle” (see Prague Castle) was founded in 1534 by the invited Italians Giovanni Spazio and Francesco Bonaforde. The closeness of the names Francesco - Francis gave rise to a version about Skaryna’s gardening activities, especially since the correspondence between Ferdinand I and the Bohemian Chamber clearly notes: “Master Francis”, “Italian gardener”, who received payment and left Prague around 1539. However, in a letter of 1552 from Ferdinand I to the son of the then deceased Francis Skaryna, Simeon, there is the phrase “our gardener.”

What Francysk Skaryna actually did in Prague during the last years of his life is not known exactly. Most likely, he practiced as a doctor.

The exact date of his death has not been established; most scientists suggest that Skaryna died around 1551, since in 1552 his son Simeon came to Prague to claim his inheritance.

Fonts and engraved headbands from Skaryna’s Vilna printing house were used by book publishers for another hundred years.

The language in which Francis Skaryna published his books was based on Church Slavonic, but with a large number of Belarusian words, and was therefore most understandable to the inhabitants of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. For a long time, there was a heated scientific debate among Belarusian linguists about which language, of two options, Skorin’s books were translated into: the Belarusian edition (edition) of the Church Slavonic language or, under another version, the ecclesiastical style of the Old Belarusian language. Currently, Belarusian linguists agree that the language of Francis Skaryna's Bible translations is the Belarusian edition (edition) of the Church Slavonic language. At the same time, the influence of Czech and Polish languages ​​is noticed in Skaryna’s works.

Skaryna's Bible violated the rules that existed when rewriting church books: it contained texts from the publisher and even engravings with his image. This is the only such case in the entire history of Bible publishing in Eastern Europe. Due to the ban on independent translation of the Bible, the Catholic and Orthodox churches did not recognize Skaryna’s books.

Based on Internet materials

The general title page for the entire book is not known. Dated from a copy with Easter - a kind of calendar calculated from 1523 to 1543 (copy of the Copenhagen Royal Library). There was no point in releasing a calendar for years that had already passed. It was a kind of calendar that indicated the dates of the so-called “moving” holidays, which fall on different days in different years. The dates on which eclipses of the sun and moon will occur have also been calculated. The average height of the copies is 14 cm. This is a convolute, which includes 21 editions: Psalter, Book of Hours, Six Days, Paschals, Canon to the Holy Sepulcher, Akathist to the Holy Sepulcher, Canon to the Archangel Michael, Akathist to the Archangel Michael, Canon to John the Baptist, Akathist to John the Baptist, Canon to the Wonderworker Nicholas, Akathist to the Wonderworker Nicholas, Canon to the Apostles Peter and Paul, Akathist to the Apostles Peter and Paul, Canon to the Theotokos, Akathist to the Theotokos, Canon to the sweet name of Jesus, Akathist to the sweet name of Jesus, Canon to the Cross of the Lord, Akathist to the Cross of the Lord, Sequence of the church meeting and general afterword. Skorina composed some of the solemn chants - akathists and canons - himself. We can consider Skaryna the first poet of Belarus, whose works were published during his lifetime. The name “Small Travel Book” (more precisely, “little book”), which has become established in the literature, is based on the preface by Francis Skorina: “The written speeches in this Small Travel Book briefly summarize the essence.” Format: 8°, set 102x65, lines -20, 10 lines - 53. No custode or signatures, printing in two colors. Front pagination, by sheet, multiple, in the upper or lower right corner: 1-Zn., 1-140, 1_28, 1-4 nn., 1-28, 1-12, 1-8, 1-12, 1- 8, 1-12, 1-8, 1-12, 1-8, 1-16, 1-8, 1-12, 1-8, 1-16, 1-8, 1-12, 1-8, 1-36, 1-4, 1-4nn., 1-20 =435 pp. in full copy. Ornament: in a complete copy of the Small Travel Book there should be 487 initials from 104 boards, 251 headpieces from 28 boards. Engravings: 1) 9 pages, 1 a, “Saint John the Baptist baptized our Lord Jesus Christ in Jordan,” 80x72; 2) 10 pag., 1 a, “Gabriel’s Good News to the Most Pure Virgin Mary,” 87 x 64; 3) 18 pages, 1a, without signature (Virgin and Child), 64x41; 4) 19 pages, 1 a, “Our Lord Jesus Christ in the temple began to chastise the leaders of the Jews,” 81x72. The title pages of the Psalter, Sixth Day, and Sobornik are designed in the form of border frames (of 4 boards), inside of which the title is printed. The tit frame is originally designed. sheet of Akathists for the whole week (4 pages, 1 a), especially the left vertical woodcut depicting the crowned Virgin Mary and Child (some researchers consider this engraving as the fifth illustration of the Small Travel Book). Complete copies of the Small Travel Book have not survived. The most complete copies are available in the following libraries: RNL 1.5.8, 1.5.86; RSL No. 2044, 2045; State Historical Museum Minor 1430, Chertk. 479; Royal Library, Copenhagen. Francis Skaryna intended his miniature edition, first of all, for merchants and artisans - people who were often on the road. The publication is elegant, its ornamentation is beautiful, the small font is clear, its design resembles the font of the Prague “Bible”. Headpieces are used not only as an element of decorative decoration, but also for better organization of the text ("for the sake of clear division, the essence is given to those who honor"). Paleotype, the first-born of printing on Belarusian soil!

Bibliography: Sopikov, 1813, No. 517, 930; Köppen, 1825, p. 482, no. 33; Stroev, 1829, No. 13; Undolsky, 1848, No. 6; Sakharov, 1849, No. 11, Karataev, 1861, No. 15, Undolsky, 1871, No. 18, Karataev, 1878, No. 16, Karataev, !883, No. 19. Titov A.A. has an undoubted commercial interest. Old printed books according to the Catalog of A.I. Kasterina, with their prices indicated. Rostov, 1905, No. 6 ... 550 rub.!!! Looking to buy. Our desiderata. Report by P.P. Shibanova. Published by JSC "International Book". Moscow, Mospoligraf, typo-zincography “The Printer’s Thought”, No. 19. ... 300 rub., Catalog of books from the GPB collection. St. Petersburg, 1993, No. 13.

The history of Belarusian book printing is an important part of the general history of the Belarusian people. Cyrillic printing was the leading type of Belarusian book publishing. Printing houses that used Cyrillic fonts produced publications in book Slavic, as well as the Belarusian literary language, and used the Cyrillic alphabet, inherent in Old Russian, and later Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian writing. The Cyrillic book connected Belarusian and Ukrainian printing with Russian, where the Cyrillic alphabet occupied a monopoly position. Progressive Cyrillic book printing fulfilled an important historical mission in the development of Belarusian culture, in preserving the cultural community of the East Slavic peoples, in the rise of the liberation struggle of the masses in the 16th-17th centuries. against social and national oppression. At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century. All European countries became familiar with the technology and art of printing, directly or indirectly (Belarus, which at that time was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, from 1569 almost until the end of the 18th century was part of the federal state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Cultural life in the country was complicated by socio-political, class, socio-economic and national-religious contradictions. The process of spreading book printing, which continued at this time, is associated with the maturation of its social prerequisites in Belarus and Lithuania, the development of productive forces and production relations. The increased social activity of various strata of society in connection with this, a certain economic and cultural upswing and the expansion of international relations contributed to the development of all forms of book writing. In the development of Belarusian book printing, the main role was played by the trade and entrepreneurial strata of the urban population, the townspeople, who supported the ideas of the development of national culture, school affairs, and education.

Between 1512 and 1517, the doctor of "liberal sciences" František Skaryna appeared in Prague. According to the hypothesis of J. Dobrovsky, he could be among the persons accompanying King Sigismund I (aka Zhigimont the Old) to the Congress of Vienna in 1515. Well, he stayed in Prague to fulfill some official duties under the young Czech King Louis. Here he ordered printing equipment and began translating and commenting on the Bible. Skaryna's first book (Psalter) was published on August 6, 1517. From this time to 1519, Skaryna translated into Church Slavonic (with a significant admixture of Old Belarusian vocabulary), commented on and published 23 books of the Bible with prefaces and afterwords. In 1520-1521 he moved to Vilna, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Burgomaster Jakub Babich allocated a place for Skaryna's printing house in his house in one of the Russian quarters in the Market area. Skaryna’s publishing activities were financed by the Vilna merchant Bogdan Onkov. Around 1522, the first printer published the “Small Travel Book,” and in March 1525, his last book, “The Apostle.” Somewhere at this time, he may have participated in a dispute in Vilna with the famous Paracelsus. In 1525, he is believed to have traveled to the German city of Wittenberg, the center of the Reformation, where he met with Martin Luther. Based on one of the diplomatic documents of 1552, A.V. Florovsky and S. Braga developed a hypothesis that in the mid-1520s Skorina could have visited Moscow, intending to develop the Moscow book market. But there, during the reign of Grand Duke Vasily III, his books were publicly burned, because they were published by a Catholic and in places subject to the authority of the Roman Church. Between 1525 and 1528, Skaryna married the widow of the Vilna merchant Yuri Odvernik Margarita, improved his financial situation and, together with his wife, took part in the trading business of his elder brother Ivan Skaryna, who was engaged in a wholesale trade in leather. But at the end of 1529, brother Ivan died in Poznan. And at the beginning of 1530, Margarita also died, leaving Skaryna’s young son, Simeon, in her arms. For Skaryna, the era of litigation began. First, Margarita's relatives filed a lawsuit, demanding the division of her property. At this time, Skaryna visited Konigsberg (until May 1530), where he tried to secure the patronage of Duke Albrecht of Hohenzollern, who, carried away by the ideas of the Reformation, wanted to organize printing in his country. Skaryna then became a family doctor and secretary of the Vilnius Catholic Bishop Jan. But then the Warsaw creditors began to seek from him payment of the debts of his late brother. Jewish merchants Lazar and Moses (to whom he owed 412 zlotys) secured Skaryna's arrest in February 1532 - and he spent about 10 weeks in Poznan prison. His nephew, Roman, came to the rescue, getting an audience with King Sigismund I and proving that Skaryna had no direct connection to his brother’s affairs. On May 24, 1532, the king ordered the release of Skaryna and issued him a safe-conduct (immunity), according to which he could only be tried by a royal court. Finally, in the mid-1530s, Francis Skaryna took up the position of physician and gardener to the Czech king Ferdinand I of Habsburg at the royal botanical garden in Prague. The pioneer printer died no later than January 29, 1552.

“The Little Travel Book” is shrouded in an aura of mysticism and mystery. Which Belarusian book is considered first printed? The one that Skaryna published in Prague in 1517, or the one in Vilna in 1522? Prague certainly had nothing to do with Belarus at that time. And Vilnius is now... Interesting arithmetic. At E.L. Nemirovsky we read: Under the name “Small Travel Book” a set of publications printed by Francis Skaryna around 1522 in Vilna is known. The name was given by the Belarusian educator himself. It is mentioned only once - in the title of the afterword to the entire set of publications: “WRITTEN AND SPEECHES IN THIS SMALL TRAVEL BOOK briefly summarize the essence.” With the light hand of Ivan Prokofievich Karataev, the name “Small Travel Book” was established in historiography, which later became generally accepted and a household name. Meanwhile, Francysk Skaryna himself is talking about a “little book.” As Yaroslav Dmitrievich Isaevich rightly pointed out, “the form “in a book” is the prepositional case of “book”. Therefore, the correct name is “Small Travel Book”. Justice requires pointing out that it was in this form that the name was used by the Czech Slavist Joseph Dobrovsky, who first introduced this set of Vilna publications by Francis Skaryna into scientific circulation. “The Small Travel Book” is a rare publication. The total number of currently known convolutes and separately bound editions included in the “Small Travel Book”, until very recently, was 22. Last time, eight Akathists (from the collection of the University Library in Wroclaw - Poland) out of a total of 21 editions, which is included in the “Small Travel Book”, was introduced into scientific circulation by Yu. A. Labyntsev in 1978. Therefore, the find made in 2004 by the Moscow bibliophile Mikhail Evgenievich Grinblat can be considered truly sensational. He purchased in a second-hand bookstore in Moscow a convolute containing the Vilna Psalter, the Canon of the Holy Sepulcher, the Akathist to the Holy Sepulcher, the Canon to the Archangel Michael, the Akathist to the Archangel Michael, the Canon to John the Baptist, the Akathist to John the Baptist, the Canon to the Wonderworker Nicholas, the Akathist to the Wonderworker Nicholas, the Canon to the Apostles Peter and Paul , Akathist to the Apostles Peter and Paul, Canon to the Theotokos, Akathist to the Mother of God, Canon to the sweet name of Jesus, Akathist to the sweet name of Jesus, Canon to the cross of the Lord, Akathist to the cross of the Lord, Sequence of the church meeting. That is, almost the entire “Small Travel Book”, with the exception of only the Book of Hours, the Book of the Six Days and most of the Sequence of the Church Meeting. In the latest edition, only sheets 1-11 were preserved in Greenblatt's copy, after which 11 sheets reproduced in 17th-century cursive were interwoven. There is no Paschal or general afterword to the “Small Travel Book” in this convolute. The Paschalia is preserved in its entirety only in the convolute located in Copenhagen, and the general afterword is preserved in the St. Petersburg copy. There is no information about where Greenblatt’s convolute was previously and who it belonged to. The volume is bound in boards covered with smooth leather. The book block is fastened with copper fasteners. On the back of the top cover is a hard-to-read owner's note dated May 13, 1900. Three blank sheets of paper are woven into the front of the book; on the back of the last of them there is a pencil note “1722”. In the margins of the sheets there are reader marginalia. Among the latter is the entry “This Book of Fedorov,” made on fol. 12 Akathist to the sweet name of Jesus. On some sheets there is a handwritten Cyrillic folio: in the Akathist to the cross on the fol. 1 – horn, on l. 4 – pos and in the Canon to the cross on l. 5 – rchg. This, in our opinion, indicates that these publications were previously included in a convolute, the volume of which exceeded 193 sheets. In conclusion, let us say that in 2005 another Skorinin discovery was made - a convolute containing many Prague publications of the Belarusian enlightener. It was found in the library of the city of Görlitz (Germany). But we still have no information about the composition of this convolute. The Small Travel Book, like other publications by Francis Skaryna, has invariably attracted the attention of researchers since the second half of the 18th century, but only in recent decades have its “detailed descriptions” been made (V.I. Lukyanenko, in 1973), as well as the implementation “based on modern methods” (E. L. Nemirovsky, in 1978) and “the most complete and accurate bibliographic description” (E. L. Nemirovsky, in 1988), i.e., the basis was created without which in modern science a full-fledged study of an old printed book is simply impossible. Meanwhile, if we compare the descriptions of V. I. Lukyanenko and E. L. Nemirovsky, it is easy to notice significant differences in them, making it possible to understand that the indecisiveness of the bibliographers, who postponed the implementation of this task for many years, was associated not only with the insufficiently good preservation of the extant materials. us copies of the publication (often representing only separate parts of it), but also with the need to resolve the issue of how to describe it, which in turn is associated with the need to find out how the entire publication was printed and in what form it went on sale . In the description of V.I. Lukyanenko, the Small Travel Book appears as a single publication, having many separate folios, but at the same time a single sequence of unsigned notebooks, each of which contains 4 sheets. At the same time, the description is accompanied by a cautious reservation about the possible appearance of the book for sale in separate editions. E. L. Nemirovsky considers Skaryna’s book as a collection of a number of separate publications, each of which has its own sequence of notebooks or contains one notebook, sometimes from 8, sometimes from 12 sheets. There are quite serious reasons in favor of both points of view. The unity of the book was pointed out first of all by Francis Skaryna himself in a special table of contents, in which, in addition to the title of the book, a detailed list of all its constituent parts is revealed. Thanks to the table of contents, one can understand that the publication conceived by Skaryna was not an abstract liturgical collection, but a kind of Psalter with prayer, intended for home use. The only serious problem here is the slight discrepancy between the table of contents and the actual composition of the book, which is found in the content and order of the services of the Book of Hours and which is precisely what forced V. I. Lukyanenko to assume that it is connected “with the publication of the publication in parts in small editions, the composition of which could easily vary according to with the features of the implementation of these books and other technical conditions.” One can hardly agree with such an explanation. One must think that this discrepancy reflected the difference between what the Book of Hours should have been and the way it was actually printed, since the Sunday Midnight Office, printed at the end of the Book of Hours, i.e., at a distance from the daily and Saturday Midnight Offices, with which the Book of Hours begins, gives the impression of being accidentally omitted, as, indeed, is the canon of the Theotokos, which is probably why the sheets on which it is printed did not receive a folio. Therefore, it can be assumed that when typing the table of contents, Francis Skorina decided to correct the imperfections of this part of the book, not being able to reprint even part of its circulation, apparently due to lack of funds. Consideration of the Small Travel Book as a “set of Skorinin’s publications”, containing 21 separate editions: Psalter, Book of Hours, 17 canons and akathists, Shestodnevets, Sequence of the church meeting (i.e. Monthly Book with Paschal), was proposed by E. L. Nemirovsky, who indicated that “each of these small books has a separate pagination, imprint, and often its own title page,” and also that “the principles of design of individual parts of the “Small Travel Book” are different and reveal that different typographers worked on them.” The arguments of E. L. Nemirovsky, however, are not at all indisputable. A special count of sheets for each part of the publication, albeit infrequently, is found in Cyrillic books, especially in the early days of printing. For example, in Zabludov’s Psalter with the Book of Hours by Ivan Fedorov, both the Psalter and the Book of Hours each have their own foliation, but this does not make them two separate editions, even though the principles of their design are different, when printing the Book of Hours, the engraved decorations of the footers, used throughout the entire Psalter, were not used. The presence of several imprints and title pages within one book is also known from the early days of book printing, although in Cyrillic publications this phenomenon cannot be considered frequent or widespread. As an example, we can cite the collection of works by M. Divkovic, published in 1641 at the printing house of Bartolo Ginnami in Venice, each part of which has its own title page with the output information, which is also not always the same (they indicate both 1641 and 1640). ). However, what E. L. Nemirovsky calls the output information and title pages in the Small Travel Book should hardly be fully considered in this way. “Imprint” found at the end of each part of Skorin’s edition does not indicate the place (with the exception of the Book of Hours and Months with Paschal) and the time of its publication and more closely resembles a kind of final formula, which at a much later time was shortened to the word “ the end,” and has now completely disappeared from printed books. In the “title pages” noted by E. L. Nemirovsky, it would be preferable to see foretitles preceding all 5 main parts of the book. Psalter, Book of Hours, Akathists and canons, Six Days, Book of Months with Paschal. This function is indicated by the absence of any information on them about the time and place of publication of the book, as well as the presence of formulas that are not at all characteristic of actual title pages of publications. At the same time, the functional identity of all 5 avantitols is emphasized by the unity of design, which consists in the fact that the text formulas are enclosed in engraved frames. Special avantitula precede each of the pairs, consisting of an akathist and a canon, connected by the unity of the remembered and glorified event, which creates a clear internal structure of this part of the Little Travel Book, the design of which seemed heterogeneous to E. L. Nemtsovsky." Other elements creating this unusually harmonious internal the structure of the Akathists and canons, became the location of the column numbers (in the Akathists - in the lower right corner of the sheet, in the canons - in the upper right corner) and the use of cinnabar (akathists, unlike the canons, are printed only in black ink). The unity of the pairs consisting of an akathist and a canon is also supported by direct instructions found in the opening and already mentioned concluding formulas. Thus, the only evidence that can be considered undoubted is evidence that indicates the Small Travel Book as a single publication, which contained 6 parts: the preface (table of contents and, possibly, the general title page of the book), the Psalter, the Book of Hours, Akathists and canons, the Shestodnevets and The Monthly Book with Easter, which does not at all exclude the possibility of its distribution in the form of these separate parts, although the facts of such distribution should be considered not from the point of view of printing, but from the point of view of the existence of the book. And the surviving copies give us examples of such existence of the Psalter (separately and in combination with the Book of Hours), Book of Hours, Akathists and canons, and the Book of the Sixth Day. The incomplete selection and inconsistency of combining the texts of akathists and canons in some copies should be explained by the peculiarities of their existence (the possibility of losses, the arbitrariness of bookbinders, etc.), as well as the unusual content of this part of Skorin’s edition. The combination of the Canon and the Akathist in one book, outlandish at that time, forced the reader of the book to decide the question of his preferences in relation to certain prayers, which, apparently, was reflected in the movement, within the mentioned pairs, of the canons to the beginning or in the appearance of a selection of only Akathists, as in the copy of the library of the University of Wroclaw, which existed in this form, judging by the binding and records, from the 16th century. See copy of the State Historical Museum, Chertk. 480, which, however, does not contain one of the parts of the Sixth Day - the penitential canon, printed along with the canon on Saturday at Matins. It should be noted that the understanding of the need to consider this canon as part of the Shestodnevets obviously did not come to Francis Skaryna immediately (it was already reflected in the table of contents and, apparently, during the printing of the Shestodnevets), but at first it was published as part of the Book of Hours. Returning to the problem of the bibliographic description of the Small Travel Book, it should be noted that it, without a doubt, should be described as a single publication, containing, however, not a single sequence of notebooks, but six, according to the number of main sections of the book.

The emergence of Belarusian book printing in the 1st quarter of the 16th century. associated with the activities of the outstanding humanist, educator, Belarusian and East Slavic pioneer Francisk Skaryna (around 1490 - no later than 1551). The first stage of F. Skaryna’s book publishing activity took place in the “glorious place of Praz.” Long-standing trade and cultural ties between the Czech Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, some features of the spiritual and socio-political life of the Czech Republic (the influence of the Hussite Reformation), as well as the privileges that printing enjoyed here (not constrained by guild restrictions), facilitated the organization of a new book publishing enterprise in Prague. Like many European pioneer printers, F. Skaryna began his publishing career with books of the Bible. It is known that biblical books (a complex of literary works of ancient writing, complex in its composition, heterogeneous and contradictory in its social motives) were used in the Middle Ages not only by the church and the ruling classes for their own purposes, but also by opposing heretical, radical reformation movements, revolutionary opposition to feudalism. Skaryna’s secular Renaissance publications sharply contradicted church canons and orthodox ideas about “holy scripture.” The free translation of biblical texts into the Belarusian literary language of that time, the humanistic interpretation of their content, the author's prefaces and commentaries on books, which departed far from the traditions of the medieval Christian worldview, bordered, from the point of view of the church, on heresy. It is no coincidence that the Orthodox Orthodox Prince Andrei Kurbsky, who fled to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the Livonian War, classified the books of “Skaryna of Polotskago” as blasphemous heretical publications, similar to Luther’s Bible. F. Skaryna's educational and humanistic views were clearly manifested in his attitude towards secular sciences, book knowledge, and the spiritual achievements of the past. In his books, published in his native language, he advocated the need for a broad humanitarian education, the study of the seven “liberal sciences” (or “arts”), moral improvement, active personal and social activity “for the common good and the growth of wisdom, skill, courage, reason and science" (Second preface to the book "Isus Sirakhov", 1517). In the statements and comments of F. Skorina, in his attitude towards book publishing, educational and political activities, his civic patriotic feelings and desire to promote the spiritual development of his people in every possible way are felt. F. Skorina's patriotism was organically combined with deep respect for other peoples, their traditions and customs, cultural and historical heritage. It is known that in the Prague printing house F. Skorina published 23 books of the Old Testament with a total volume of about 1200 sheets. However, it is not possible today to accurately determine all of his products published in the Prague printing house due to various historical circumstances that influenced the fate of many East Slavic, including Belarusian, books. Only one thing can be stated quite confidently: F. Skorina intended to publish the entire set of the Bible in Prague, “so that it would not be reduced in the Russian language.” This is evidenced by the general title page, a lengthy preface to the entire Bible, and commentaries on the published books. Listing the books prepared for printing, F. Skorina mentions a number of books unknown to us or not yet found - “Ezra”, “Tobith”, etc. “About all these books,” wrote F. Skorina, “newly laid out by me in Russian and about their names, more broadly in the prefaces, from me on the skin separately laid out, you will know.” There is no information about who worked at the Prague printing house of F. Skorina.

The fonts, illustrations and ornamental materials of F. Skaryna’s Prague editions do not have direct parallels with the currently known Czech and other incunabula and paleotypes of the late 15th - first decades of the 16th centuries. It can be assumed that Czech masters of typography and compatriots of F. Skaryna worked in the Prague printing house. A few years after the start of his book publishing activity, F. Skaryna moved to Vilna - the largest political, economic and cultural center and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the Vilna printing house of F. Skorina, set up in the house of the mayor Yakub Babich, the “Small Travel Book” (circa 1522) and “Apostle” (1525) were printed. Both books were published in an edition close to the linguistic and religious traditions of Belarusian and East Slavic writing. However, in their social purpose and to a certain extent in their content, they differed from those rather rare works of handwritten book art that were distributed mainly among the privileged strata of society. The “Small Travel Book” introduced relatively wide sections of the Belarusian population to some ideas of Ptolemaic astronomy. The educational tendencies of F. Skorina found vivid expression in his published perspective summary of solar and lunar eclipses for 1523-1530. This is the first accurate forecast of eclipses in all East Slavic literature, which the church declared beyond the control of the human mind and unpredictable. In the “glorious place of Vilna” F. Skorina participated more widely than in Prague in the direct activities of the printing house, which is noted in his publications: “laid out and embossed”, “laid out and superseded by the work of Dr. Francis Skorina”, etc. In the Vilna editions new engravings were used, most of the ornament was updated, narrow “headpieces”, small initials with a variety of decorative and floral backgrounds were made with special skill, different forms of typesetting at the ends were widely used, and the two-color printing technique was improved. As V.V. Stasov and other art critics noted, F. Skaryna’s publications are mature, perfect works, bright and original in their artistic and typographic appearance. They organically combined the traditions of Belarusian and East Slavic art and writing with the experience of European, including Slavic, printing, developing and enriching it.

But let's go back to the first quarter of the 16th century. Vilna was in front of him. And the sun above her is at its zenith - in a sky blue and clear, like his eyes. And either because of his blue eyes the sky above Vilna became blue, or because of the blue sky above Vilna his eyes turned joyfully blue, the glorious people of Vilna, under that clear, golden sun shining above them, did not think very much. Nor did Skaryna think about it, excitedly experiencing his arrival in Vilna - under its blue and clear sky. Ave sol! Long live the sun! And this was Skaryna’s most sincere greeting, born of the joy of his return to his homeland - returning with a dream come true, the return of a man who knew the value of the bright sun, who understood it in a special way, with his destiny, with his personality. And it doesn’t matter that after Wroclaw it was easier for horses harnessed to slow-turning wagons! The main thing is that the book belongings, acquired by his tireless three-year work in Prague, were brought here to Vilna. And now Skaryna will be next to Bogdan Onkov, Yakub Babich, Yuri Odvernik, because next to him - in front of him - was Vilna with all its beauty, attractiveness, celebrity. It was breathtaking and speechless because Skaryna was entering Vilna through the Krevsky Gate. These gates would later be called Mednitsky, and even later - Ostrobramsky, but now they were called Krevsky. Olgerd's route from Polotsk to Vilna ended with these famous gates. Skaryna was at the very end of Olgerd's path, but his own path did not lead here through Krevo, although partly through that same Krevo, if we remember that the Union of Krevo generally took control of the roads from the Grand Duchy not only to Krakow, but also to Prague . Yes, not about history, recent or ancient, Skaryna thought as he entered Vilna through the Krevsky Gate. He knew that behind them he would immediately glance at the already familiar triangular market square and see Yakub Babich’s farmstead on it, and the stone house of Yuri Odvernik. Below the Krevsky Gate - on the right hand - there is still a pub where, on the eve of his departure to Prague three years ago, he finally agreed on the matter with Bogdan Onkov and Jakub Babich. Odverpik did not come to that conversation, and Skaryna then conveyed his farewell words to Yuri through Onkov. He conveyed it so that even before this day he could think about why Yuri was absent then?.. Frantishek knew Vilna thanks to his father, the merchant Luka Skorinich, since the scheduled Vilna fairs were also fairs for the trading people of Polotsk: one of them opened on Vodokreshcha, the other on the Assumption . Those fairs lasted for two or even three loud weeks, and Frantisek’s father used to stay here for two or more weeks, so that after a month or two, on occasion, he could tell his youngest son about Vilna. What did my father not talk about? And about the different settlements of this glorious capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, of which here, as in Polotsk, there were six, only they were called floorboards - Lithuanian, Russian, German. Father, however, more readily recalled not the floorboards, churches or churches of Vilna, but about its merchant living courtyards, and above all about the one that Novgorod merchants built here under Olgerd. He also liked to talk about the Gostiny Dvor, which grew up under the care of King Alexander, adding that after all, King Alexander favored the merchant and did not forget about him. That royal attention, it is known, concerned, as the Vilna merchants themselves understood it, not so much the visiting guests as they, the local merchants. After all, it was not they, the Vilna residents, but the visiting merchants who were sternly ordered to stay only at Alexander’s court and nowhere else. And visiting merchants were also obliged, having settled down in the courtyard allocated for them, to report about themselves to the city council. And before leaving, they had to do the same. In addition, it was strictly forbidden for visiting merchants to trade in Vilna with the same visiting merchants. They had the right to trade only with Vilna merchants, only with the Vilna people. So Alexander’s concern for the merchant was, first and foremost, concern for the Vilna merchant, for Vilna. But no matter what Skaryna recalled from his father’s stories about this city, the first days of his meetings in Vilna could not help but be joyful and festive. His friends - Bogdan Onkov, Yakub Babich - books printed by him have been seen, known, and to this day. But they were not considered to be considered with Frantisek. And these were such displays of printed books, as if all three had never seen them before, had never held them in their hands, and had not eagerly read them. And all because Frantisek told his friends at those shows not only about what they already knew from the prefaces, but also, first of all, about what was not included in the prefaces, could not be included. Skaryna talked and talked about all the complexities and subtleties of the work he had already accomplished in Prague, about all the details and little things that people usually don’t remember for very long, even though human life itself consists of them in its elusiveness, transience, disappearance . Of course, during that long, long Skaryna confession, more than one mug was drunk, more than one garnet was scooped out of honey, and more than one fat gander was fried with that beer and honey, more than one oxen lay down in red-purple chunks on silver trays, thickly and deliciously seasoned with round green peas, fragrant fiery saffron, grated red alyssum, and overseas sweet raisins. But along with the first Vilna joys, the first Vilna worries also appeared. Skaryna's concerns were merchant and commercial. What exactly they were is unknown today. If, for example, the trade books of Bogdan Oikov or Jakub Babich came to us from that time, and the Hanseatic merchants always had such books, because Magdeburg law obliged them to keep them, - so, those books have been preserved, now with their bulk, leather covers, graphs, numbers, calculations and calculations on our table, and, like Bogdan Onkov or Jakub Babich, it would be clear to everyone today how much money the same Bogdan Onkov and Jakub Babich spent on the Prague Bible - on the paper on which it was printed, on the font , for engravings, for vignettes, for screensavers. And how much and on what did the Prague printer Francysk Skaryna himself spend in his printing business in Prague, and what expenses did it require, and what profit did it bring to him and his friends, and how many books were sold on a given day and even to whom on loan? sold - everything, everything would have been known from the trade books of Bogdan Onkov, Yakub Babich, if only they had reached our time! Although it is clear that a trade book is not a magic mirror that fully reflects the life of a merchant in general and his trading activities in particular. After all, the same merchant activity, as usual, was determined for a merchant by rules similar to the laws of multiplication, when one number is written, and another is kept in the mind: seven is forty-nine, nine is written, four is in memory. How much of what did merchants of different times have in their memory, who, when and where knew about it for certain?! Likewise, in the trade books, what remained in the merchant’s memory was never written down by the merchant. After all, the merchant’s memory, ability to estimate, sharpness and fluency of thought were usually the key to the merchant’s success, the guarantee of his profit. Calculation on paper is one thing, invisible calculation, internal calculation is another. The merchants before Onkov and Babich knew them, and the merchants Onkov and Babich knew them too. But with all that knowledge, the merchants before Onkov and Babich, as probably Onkov and Babich themselves - maybe often, or maybe not very often - came across a variety of rapids. And if not for those rapids, then, it is known, not in 1522, but already in the year of his arrival in Vilna, Skaryna would have calmly printed his first Vilna book here in Vilna - “The Small Travel Book”. And since he did not print it here, in Vilna, right away, right away, quickly, this meant that right away, right away, quickly, neither Skorina, nor Onkov, nor Babich succeeded. Everything was not as simple as it might have seemed to Skaryna in the first days upon arrival. So what if Skaryna still brought the font, vignettes, headpieces and all other belongings here to the place? In Vilna, here already, in the same place where it all fell, in the same place and continued to lie there! After all, at first, apparently, a problem arose with paper: a paper-making workshop near Vilna had just started working, and the paper was still unimportant. And what is the first thing to tackle in Vilna - what to translate? This again could not help but worry Skaryna, Onkov, and Babich. After all, a merchant should know what kind of demand there is for his goods! Thus, it was necessary either to repeat in Vilna the printing of texts already printed in Prague, or to begin preparing for the printing of new ones... There were many issues to be resolved, but the first priority was getting money, as well as the need to secure guardianship, equal if and not a royal privilege, then at least some certainty that guarantees the confidence that behind your back there is a force that is greater than you and which will not harm you if something unexpected happens. And yet, at first, these serious troubles did not seem so difficult to Skaryna - partly for the reason that they were all divided into three - Onkov, Babich and him, Skaryna. But every day Skorina became more and more obsessed with another concern in Vilna - unforeseen by Skorina himself, by Onkov and Babich, too. And the powerful, broad-shouldered Yakub Babich and the stocky, squat Bogdan Onkov listened to their friend Frantisek Skaryna, when he arrived from Polotsk to the glorious place of Vilna and did not bring a single penny with him, but only his brother and his family, and wondered why this Frantisek seemed to look younger, where did he get his cheerfulness, energy and even more risk in his plans and reasoning. It seems that he is not the son of a merchant! It seems like the number of books brought from Prague in their basements has diminished! Did you receive an inheritance, a royal privilege?.. Skaryna did not receive an inheritance, nor a royal privilege. -Music! - he exclaimed. - We’ll all start again with music, with a golden-horned deer!.. Why with music, why with a deer, neither the taciturn Babich nor the eloquent Onkov understood. “Yes, from music and cinnabar,” Skorina began to explain. - Akathists need to be embossed - printed, canons, so that the guslars sing, the boys sing, the girls sing! Babich and Onkov also didn’t understand what kind of guslars and guys, what kind of girls. - And cinnabar, so that it attracts the eye, like fire in the night! And now our merchant is the merchant who is on the road. His mother and wife accompany him on the road with God, so let him take God’s word on the road every day, every minute. And the merchant also loves to count, loves to calculate, calculate. So we will print and print the Easter book for him, and not just the Book of Hours, and let him calculate when Easter is, when the carols are, let him, like God, calculate it himself! And let any of our merchants sing akathists on the road - according to the “Small Travel Book”. He sings in a booklet, a twelfth of a page, half the size of our Prague little books, a twelfth of a page, so that it can easily fit in a merchant’s pocket, so that it doesn’t interfere with his pocket - when driving, when walking. The book is small, the expenses for it are small, and the merchant’s joy from it is great!.. So Yakub Babich and Bogdan Onkov first heard about the “Small Travel Book”, they heard everything that Frantisek really convinced them of, infecting them with his enthusiasm and his faith, although, having advanced, Skaryna the printer was now retreating, for it was decided to print the “Book” in Old Church Slavonic. And all this for the sake of commerce? Not only because of it, but because of inertia too, because the reader got used, could not help but get used to the old Slovenian language over the centuries, which was also the language of the Belarusians, but only bookish. The living, colloquial language to the medieval Belarusian seemed, if not inferior, then at least less mysterious and, most importantly, less sanctified by tradition. Skaryna had to go to the printing press, to go to herself, and through the labyrinths of linguistic circumstances. Printed book approval! Book smart! Morals! Above the Greek and the Jew! But will he establish a living spoken language as authoritatively as Church Slavonic has already been established in the minds of his compatriots? Will confirm again! Will definitely approve! And the house of Yakub Babich in the glorious place of Vilensky, near the market on a triangular square near the Krevsky Gate, became the new printing house of Francis Skaryna. And at the same time, Skaryna’s troubles with the “Small Travel Book” began no less than they once had with the large Prague books, and maybe even more. Because in Vilna it was more difficult with paper, because in Vilna such experienced engravers and servants as Skaryna had in the printing house of Pavel Severin in Czech Prague in the Old Town had not yet appeared. But the work went like clockwork, as if the path itself was a tablecloth. And all because Skaryna worked obsessively, took on literally any job, did whatever was necessary: ​​he prepared the text for printing, and typed it, adjusting fonts and initial letters, rubbing cinnabar, so that he could immediately grab the screw of the printing press. He really worked very hard, furiously, because to press and print in a year as many pages as were pressed and printed in the printing house of Jakub Babich in the year 1522 is not something to do, it’s hard to imagine. Akathists and canons flew out like birds from a nest, and not about two wings - about eight, about twelve: akathists - about twelve, canons - about eight. There were, however, akathists with 16 sheets each - dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul, to the cross of the Lord. In total, 168 pages of akathists and canons were printed in 1522, “Book of Hours” - 60, “Six Days” - 36, Vilna “Psalter” - 140, afterwords to the entire “Little Travel Book” - 23. As a result - 427 pages of text per one year! Skaryna was happy: in Vilna things were going no worse than in Prague. Sing the akathists, rising, standing, Rus'! Rejoice, as he rejoiced, Francis, when he printed the “Psalter”, “Book of Hours”, “Sex Day” and all the canons in two colors - not only everyday black, but also festive red. And where he has red paint, he has plenty of ornaments and initials in abundance. True, there are few illustrations in the akathists and canons - only three. Skaryna does not have the luxury with illustrations that he had in Prague here in Vilna. And this, of course, was upsetting. But still, Francis was happy that at least he brought so many ornaments, initial letters, and fonts from Prague and was finally able to continue his printing business... “So on the road, “Small Travel Book,” in good time!” - Having finished printing the “Small Travel Book”, on one day, of course, a holiday for himself and his friends, Frantisek said goodbye to her in the house of Jakub Babich or, perhaps, Bogdan Onkov, hardly, apparently suspecting that this was his new rise as a printer It also began from the high Naddvinsk temple with the Kupala bonfire of the year before last. - Gu-ha, gu-ha! - danced the Krakowiak Pan Twardowski, chanting with an Ashmyany-Polish accent:

We weren't there

There was a forest

We won't be there

It will be a blast!..

“Well,” Skaryna was not surprised, “didn’t I myself leave the dearest Beautiful flowers here in Vilna, so that they could fully enjoy their will and self-will. Now get it!” And indeed, whenever he crossed the threshold into the pub, which is on the right hand of the market on the triangular square below the Krevsky Gate, Pan Tvardovsky was right there:

As long as I drink, I live!

And a glass of Malvasia or Alkermes instantly, as if in a bottomless abyss, disappeared from the surprised eyes of Doctor Faust, and from the dried clay eyes of the Golem, and from the ironic eyes of Stanislav Stańczyk, as usual. Meanwhile, the formidable Pan Tvardovsky was already towering over the massive oak table of the pub, as if with an oak hollow, with an inviting glass in his hands, wet with sweat! Doctor Faustus and Golem sat freely at the oak table of the pub and did not slouch warily. Not so Stanislav Stańczyk: his pride did not allow him to twitch his numb left shoulder even slightly, but, not at all expecting any indulgence from Mr. Twardowski, he kept his mug pressed to his lip. Doctor Faustus the Second hasn't had any fun for a year. For the second year now, he was sad for his Nemetschina, sipping in rare sips not the glorious Gdansk double beer, but the local beer and snacking on the most delicious and non-local Shona herring, saying at the same time: “Wonderful! Wonderful!..” Pan Tvardovsky was not at all satisfied with this, and almost every evening he thundered in his deep voice:

So that we are alive

And they drank vodka with hats!..

Being themselves the owners of hats without holes, Doctor Faust, Golem, and Stanislav Stanczyk still looked with caution at the flushed cheeks and not only the cheeks of the great Mr. Twardowski. Oh, how at some point Pan Tvardovsky began to hate this obvious precaution of theirs - stamping his black heel with a silver spur, and throwing back his head, from which the quadrangle with a tall peacock feather was almost falling, and shouting:

If you walk,

So, take a walk,

Hug the girl

Give up the belt!., (as collateral)

Pan Tvardovsky's belt was, of course, neither Skaryna's doctor's robe, nor Faust's doctor's robe, except that there were always pockets in the belts, and pennies in the pockets. The behavior of Papa Tvardovsky could not be an example to Dr. Skorina, nor an example to Dr. Faust. But, perhaps, precisely because he did not find worthy followers either in Skaryna, or in Doctor Faust, or in Golem, or even in the distinguished nobleman Stanislav Stańczyk, Pan Twardowski soon became so angry that one evening in the same famous he categorically told us in the pub and the whole company of Beautiful Flowers, and the most learned doctor and printer of various “Small Travel Books” Francis Skorina, that it was time for them to finally hear his most important thesis of life. And then, in a pub near the famous Vilna market on a triangular square, the great credo of the great maestro sounded briefly, but in all its significance and power: “Life is nothing more than a game!” Game, you poor nerds! Game, university poor fellows! Game, beer guzzlers and clay heads! Huh? The great misters have a great game, as we know, but the common-speaking bastards have a great squabble! The main thing is not to acquire it and leave it to your descendants, but to squander everything you have or have acquired! Waste the grain, squander the slave, squander the forest, are you a Croesus or not!.. And everything, everything, it seemed, could have been expected from Pan Tvardovsky by the always tolerant doctor Francis Skorina, but what he heard after the above tirade of Pan Tvardovsky , he apparently never expected to hear. And Pan Tvardovsky, entering into a simply unheard-of rage, just looking into the eyes of one Pan Frantisek, cut without a knife: “Yes, we are your brother, a tradesman, a merchant, a member of the commonwealth, - yes, we will buy and sell him and count the money!” And give us, king, a clear path - by water and by land! And save us, the gentry, and not just the merchant women, from the toll - throughout the entire Grand Duchy, throughout the entire Crown, which is not inferior in grandeur to the principality! And then we will cover France with life, we will cover England with forests, and you will wither away in your Vilnius, Vitebsk, Polotsk! Your merchants will wither away, and - a thousand devils! - none of them will even think of buying your books! Will Glebovich buy?.. Amazing!.. Korsakovichi?.. Amazing!.. Epimakhs? Hindricks!.. Hee-hee-hee!.. Neither the Radziwills, nor the Sapiehas, nor the various Gashtovts who, in the Polish manner, rename themselves Gashtolds, will buy it! Yes, they are their gold-woven belts (oh, what a pity that these belts will be called Slutsk, and not Oshmyany, after all, Panov, it’s not for nothing that you noticed that it’s not for nothing that I speak magic in Polish and sing and not with just any , namely with an Ashmyany accent! ), - so I say that these stump Gashtovts, not only for a book, but also for the most beautiful Belarusian girl, will not leave their gold-woven, blue cornflower-embroidered belt, with which they wrap their bellies, - they will not leave, gu-ha, gu- ha! Skaryna was thinking, but he was intrusively prevented from thinking, like trinkets, a simple refrain, a simple rhyme: “there was a las,” “there will be a las,” “a las - us,” “a las - us.” It was unbearable! Skaryna thought. And yet, if a person thinks for a long time, he simply cannot help but come up with the idea that it finally ceases to irritate him, smoothing out, as if covering with duckweed, what irritated him. And gradually the “forest” turned into a forest for Skaryna, and not a dark demon, but a light green one, like the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, through which he repeatedly passed and drove: even tall, tall - pines, oaks, hornbeams, birches up to fifteen, otherwise and twenty fathoms, but the sunlight, making its way to the ground through the crowns of the trees, becomes emerald green, tenderly light. And Skaryna already sees in that light, on a grassy clearing, a deer - golden antlers. And the blue of Skaryna’s eyes brightens both from the light of Belovezh region and from the golden deer antlers, giving birth to new melodies in his soul - painful, but new... Skaryna thought... - You need to think about this, - savoring the local beer with slow sips and holding it for a long time The most famous Doctor Faust also concluded his gaze on Francysk Skaryna, who was sitting in thought, pronouncing each word and each sound separately. “If only I could think with my clay head,” Golem began to be sincerely killed. “As a nobleman, I’m ashamed to even think here,” said Stańczyk. “The brain knows no shame,” Skaryna disagreed with Stanczyk in his soul; however, he did not say anything out loud and only reminded himself again that a calm conscience is an invention of the devil. Skaryna’s soul could not be at peace when the warlock forces were diverging so much. But these were only flowers, because the berries, as we know, are not in front of the flowers, but behind them. Vilna is not Prague. Vilna, after all, for Frantisek Skaryna is the heart of his homeland, the heart of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Although Prague is very dear to him, Prague is aloof. In Prague, he was still far, far away from here and in his dreams he rushed to Vilna every minute, strove for it like a bird from the south in the spring. And he feels at every step that he is in the heart of the principality, in the heart of his homeland. Frantisek is not a recluse in the house of Jakub Babich, in the rooms reserved for the printing house. Not a recluse, because through the open window voices can be heard from their narrow street, from the buzzing market square, into which the street flows like a not very talkative stream. A large crowd gathers there every day, because this is Vilna, and life in it is constantly seething - multi-colored, like the differently dressed residents of the city, multilingual, like newcomers, flocking here from everywhere to the Lithuanian floorboard, to the Russian floorboard, to the German floorboard... Who doesn’t lives here today, who you won’t meet here! What a Lithuanian, a Zhmudin, a Litvin-Rusich, and a Pole, a Jew, a Tatar - what a miracle! But from the time when King Alexander took Helen, the sister of Ivan III, as his wife, many Muscovites live here. The Armenians also settled in - from the time when Casimir, encouraging trade, invited both Jews and Armenians. There are also Karaites who are being pushed out of Crimea by the Crimean Tatars. There are gypsies whom the kings of all Western countries of Europe expel, but the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth does not expel, just like the Strigolniks, “Judaizers,” who are mercilessly punished by synods of the Muscovite clergy. Frantisek Skaryna will not say that the house of Jakub Babich, his printing house within the walls of this house is the heart of Vilna, but that his heart beats to the rhythm of the stormy life of Vilnius, he is ready to assert with all fervor, because in his printing house in the house of Jakub Babich he is in the center of everything that happens in the city for him. He will hear this and that from the market square himself, he will see something when he goes out to the same square, but the main news is brought to him from the town hall by Yakub Babich, the first burgomaster of the glorious place of Vilna, who almost every day meets with Bishop Jan of Vilna, with many lords, voivodes, priests, governors, and voits. And events are simply overwhelming Vilna - the year is 1522! Already at the very beginning of this year - in January - King Zhigimont issued a decree on the introduction of a general code of laws, which had long been quietly discussed in Vilna, that it was being written in the Grand Duke's chancellery. The first rumors about him arose back at the time when the Vilna Grand Duke's Office began to collect from all the magnate castles and noble estates, in places and towns, different kings to different gentlemen and serving people at different times, given charters, privileges, decrees and other documents with seals and not with seals. The January royal verdict recognized that there was no law-statute in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until now, since courts were administered on the basis of customs, royal decrees and according to the wisdom and conscience of the judges themselves. Skaryna could not accept this royal opinion, because he knew about the “Russian Truth” of Yaroslav the Wise, he knew the history and the “Scroll of the Law of Grand Duke Yaroslav Volodya Mirovich”, which his then ruler of Polotsk Luka brought to King Alexander twenty years ago here, to Vilna. The tradition of law was very old in Rus'. And even if Luke’s “Scroll of Law” is indeed a fake of the original “Russkaya Pravda”, then in this case it is a fake of a living tradition, since if it were not alive, the fake itself would not have arisen! But the main thing for Skaryna in the January verdict was the desire of King Zhigimont that equal justice be established for everyone: for magnates, gentry, the commonwealth - artisans and townspeople. Neither Skorina, nor Babich, nor the gentry in general, nor the commonwealth of the entire Grand Duchy of Lithuania could be against such a law. The tycoons opposed it. Make them equal in rights with the gentry? Never! Until now, they had been squabbling among themselves, did not trust each other, seized each other’s lands, pine forests, oak groves, meadows and lands, took away nominations, voivodeships, governorships, castellanships and bishoprics from each other. And here - how they made peace. And the project did not pass in Gorodnya. The magnates - all of them: the Radziwills, the Sapiehas, the Ilinichs, even Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky - stood up against the project with a wall. Zhigimont ordered the project to be reworked and submitted for discussion to the next Sejm - in 1524. Berestye was waiting for this Sejm, in which it was supposed to gather, but even more so in Vilna. Two new guest houses were being built here at that time - Moscow and German, and the Vilnius people, as usual, were very interested in what was being built, by whom it was being built, and how it was being built. This time, however, the Moscow and German hotels were unlucky - Vilna was all looking not in their direction, but in the direction of the Grand Duke's chancellery and Berestye. Skaryna jumped to Gorodnya that summer of 1522 not only out of interest in the affairs of the Sejm. There was another reason for this, a more serious one: Skaryna was negotiating near Gorodnyaya with one of the landowners there about the possibility of opening a school - at first only in one of his estates, and then in others. The school, according to Skorinsky’s plan, was not intended for monks - be they Dominicans, Bernardines or Orthodox. This should be his, Dr. Skaryna’s, school. In it he will begin to teach himself, recruiting children and those adults whom he can, so as to quickly call them bachelors: and his dream is to teach his students in a secular way! In general, in 1522 - during the printing of the "Small Travel Book", as in the first year after returning from Prague, as then in the third and fourth - Skaryna, one might say, was little found in Vilna itself. He expected meetings less than he sought them himself. He is like a meeting person. A whirlwind, not a man, although a respectable one, a doctor of science, a learned man, an authority. That’s why they often take him as a witness: where to write the contract, where to witness the purchase and sale. And now he is in Oshmyany, then in Kreva, Gorodnya, Berestye, and even further - in Warsaw, Krakow, Dresden. In hotels and inns there are no books of honored guests, and in the annals of history Skaryna’s days - the hours of his stops, lodgings, and meals - will not be preserved, written in golden letters. That’s not what Skaryna is worried about! After all, he is on the road with books that he would like to sell. The sick also call him on the road. And, by the way, in Vilna his fame is, first of all, the glory of a “patron”, that is, a sensible and far-sighted husband in his wisdom, a learned doctor, a printer of books! But no matter how “patented” he may have been to the outside human eye, he seemed to be haunted by eternal failure in selling his books. “There are doctors...” he once wrote in Prague. How many doctors did he meet on the banks of the Polotsk Dvina? And when will those for whom he has not yet founded schools above the Neman become doctors over the Neman? And in general, who, when and where bought a book if it could burn tomorrow, because the glow on the night sky did not go out, and the ghosts of war continued to remain real and not imaginary?.. But there was one more circumstance due to which, if only nothing chained Skaryna to Vilna - neither the Grand Duke's office, nor the printing press, nor medical or legal affairs - he always left Vilna, as if he was tired here half to death. Yuri Odvernik continued to be ill, and Skaryna, as soon as he remembered it, was ready to go to the ends of the earth. However, he felt with all his noble heart that he could not escape from sin anywhere, because he was thinking not so much about Odvernik, but about Margarita. But the Apostle Matthew also said that Skaryna knew: “Everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” But is it a sin or not a sin, what does he think about Margarita? If he thinks, then it is already a sin. And she’s not a girl, she won’t sing, as the brown-eyed daughter of the owner with whom he lodged once sang in Mala Strana in Prague:

Don't come to us, well done,

When I don't call you

Yes, me and the gate

I'll tie it with ribbons.

He's not great. And Margarita - does she really care about singing during Odvernik’s excruciating suffering? But, as luck would have it, Frantisek, like a good fellow, will sing a stanza in his soul in response to the stanza of the brown-eyed girl from Mala Strana. He will sing, because how can he not sing, and repeat this in his soul:

At least tie them, girl,

Blue ribbons,

I'll untie them

In a kind word.

Oh yeah! He would, if he could, unravel Margarita's fate with kind words. Didn’t he himself write in the first lines of the preface to his “Psalter” that “he is prepared for every good thing”? But if it’s in action, then it’s in word! There are so many kind words in his soul! But what complex knots does fate tie for him, and will he have enough or not enough kind words to untie them? And most importantly, not to tell him those kind words to Margarita, not to say! But as soon as he leaves Vilna, the inn, already at the first turn of the road, seems to him as far from Vilna as Baghdad. Odvernik was ill, and Frantisek’s escapes from Vilna to “Baghdad” continued. “For a lover, any Baghdad is not far away,” they said in the Middle Ages, but for Frantisek, the house of Jakub Babich - behind the triangular market square - was the distance of Baghdad, although Odvernik’s home is just a stone’s throw away.

P.S. And once again we focus on the conclusions of A.V. Voznesensky: The Small Travel Book, like other publications by Francis Skaryna, has invariably attracted the attention of researchers since the second half of the 18th century, but only in recent decades have its “detailed descriptions” been made (V.I. Lukyanenko, in 1973), as well as the implementation “based on modern methods” (E. L. Nemirovsky, in 1978) and “the most complete and accurate bibliographic description” (E. L. Nemirovsky, in 1988), i.e., the basis was created without which in modern science a full-fledged study of an old printed book is simply impossible. Meanwhile, if we compare the descriptions of V. I. Lukyanenko and E. L. Nemirovsky, it is easy to notice significant differences in them, making it possible to understand that the indecisiveness of the bibliographers, who postponed the implementation of this task for many years, was associated not only with the insufficiently good preservation of the extant materials. us copies of the publication (often representing only separate parts of it), but also with the need to resolve the issue of how to describe it, which in turn is associated with the need to find out how the entire publication was printed and in what form it went on sale . In the description of V.I. Lukyanenko, the Small Travel Book appears as a single publication, having many separate folios, but at the same time a single sequence of unsigned notebooks, each of which contains 4 sheets. At the same time, the description is accompanied by a cautious reservation about the possible appearance of the book for sale in separate editions. E. L. Nemirovsky considers Skaryna’s book as a collection of a number of separate publications, each of which has its own sequence of notebooks or contains one notebook, sometimes from 8, sometimes from 12 sheets. There are quite serious reasons in favor of both points of view. The unity of the book was pointed out first of all by Francis Skaryna himself in a special table of contents, in which, in addition to the title of the book, a detailed list of all its constituent parts is revealed. Thanks to the table of contents, one can understand that the publication conceived by Skaryna was not an abstract liturgical collection, but a kind of Psalter with prayer, intended for home use. The only serious problem here is the slight discrepancy between the table of contents and the actual composition of the book, which is found in the content and order of the services of the Book of Hours and which is precisely what forced V. I. Lukyanenko to assume that it is connected “with the publication of the publication in parts in small editions, the composition of which could easily vary according to with the features of the implementation of these books, etc. technical conditions". One can hardly agree with such an explanation. One must think that this discrepancy reflected the difference between what the Book of Hours should have been and the way it was actually printed, since the Sunday Midnight Office, printed at the end of the Book of Hours, i.e., at a distance from the daily and Saturday midnight offices, with which the Book of Hours begins, gives the impression of being accidentally omitted, as, indeed, is the canon of the Theotokos, which is probably why the sheets on which it is printed did not receive a folio. Therefore, it can be assumed that when typing the table of contents, Francis Skorina decided to correct the imperfections of this part of the book, not being able to reprint even part of its circulation, apparently due to lack of funds. Consideration of the Small Travel Book as a “set of Skorinin’s publications”, containing 21 separate editions: Psalter, Book of Hours, 17 canons and akathists, Shestodnevets, Sequence of the church meeting (i.e. Monthly Book with Paschal), was proposed by E. L. Nemirovsky, who pointed out that “each of these small books has a separate pagination, imprint, and often its own title page,” and also that “the principles of design of individual parts of the “Little Travel Book” are different and reveal that different typographers worked on them.” Arguments E. L. Nemirovsky, however, are not at all indisputable. A special count of sheets for each part of the publication, albeit infrequently, is found in Cyrillic books, especially in the first days of printing. For example, in the Zabludov Psalter with Book of Hours by Ivan Fedorov and Psalter and Book of Hours Each has its own folio, but this does not make them two separate publications, even though the principles of their design are different. When printing the Book of Hours, the engraved decorations of the footers, used throughout the entire Psalter, were not used. The presence of several imprints and title pages within one book is also known from the early days of book printing, although in Cyrillic publications this phenomenon cannot be considered frequent or widespread. As an example, we can cite the collection of works by M. Divkovic, published in 1641 at the printing house of Bartolo Ginnami in Venice, each part of which has its own title page with the output information, which is also not always the same (they indicate both 1641 and 1640). ). However, what E. L. Nemirovsky calls the output information and title pages in the Small Travel Book should hardly be fully considered in this way. “Imprint” found at the end of each part of Skorin’s edition does not indicate the place (with the exception of the Book of Hours and Months with Paschal) and the time of its publication and more closely resembles a kind of final formula, which at a much later time was shortened to the word “ the end,” and has now completely disappeared from printed books. In the “title pages” noted by E. L. Nemirovsky, it would be preferable to see foretitles preceding all 5 main parts of the book. Psalter, Book of Hours, Akathists and canons, Six Days, Book of Months with Paschal. This function is indicated by the absence of any information on them about the time and place of publication of the book, as well as the presence of formulas that are not at all characteristic of actual title pages of publications. At the same time, the functional identity of all 5 avantitols is emphasized by the unity of design, which consists in the fact that the text formulas are enclosed in engraved frames. Special avantitula precede each of the pairs, consisting of an akathist and a canon, connected by the unity of the remembered and glorified event, which creates a clear internal structure of this part of the Little Travel Book, the design of which seemed heterogeneous to E. L. Nemtsovsky." Other elements creating this unusually harmonious internal the structure of Akathists and canons, became the location of the column numbers (in akathists - in the lower right corner of the sheet, in canons - in the upper right corner) and the use of cinnabar (akathists, unlike canons, are printed only in black paint).The unity of pairs consisting of an akathist and a canon, is also supported by direct indications found in the initial and already mentioned concluding formulas.Thus, only evidence that testifies to the Small Travel Book as a single publication, containing 6 parts: a preface (table of contents and, possibly, a general title page of the book), the Psalter, the Book of Hours, Akathists and canons, the Book of Six Days and the Book of Months with Paschal, which does not at all exclude the possibility of its distribution in the form of these separate parts, although the facts of such distribution should be considered not from the point of view of printing, but from the point of view of the existence of the book. And the surviving copies give us examples of such existence of the Psalter (separately and in combination with the Book of Hours), Book of Hours, Akathists and canons, and the Book of the Sixth Day. You can refer to a copy of the State Historical Museum, Chertk. 480, which, however, does not contain one of the parts of the Sixth Day - the penitential canon, printed along with the canon on Saturday at Matins. It should be noted that the understanding of the need to consider this canon as part of the Shestodnevets obviously did not come to Francis Skaryna immediately (it was already reflected in the table of contents and, apparently, during the printing of the Shestodnevets), but at first it was published as part of the Book of Hours. Returning to the problem of the bibliographic description of the Small Travel Book, it should be noted that it, without a doubt, should be described as a single publication, containing, however, not a single sequence of notebooks, but six, according to the number of main sections of the book.

In 2016, an exhibit unique in its historical, cultural and artistic value was acquired into the corporate collection of Belgazprombank OJSC: “The Small Travel Book”, published around 1522 in the city of Vilna by the works of the most famous figure of Belarusian Renaissance culture - Francis Skorina. This is the first book printed on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which for many centuries included Belarusian lands.

Francis Skaryna moved to Vilna, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, around 1520 from Prague, completing the first large-scale translation and publishing work there: printing 23 books of the Old Testament of the Bible translated into Church Slavonic, accompanied by his own commentaries and interpretations. Already possessing considerable experience in book printing, as well as enlisting the support of some wealthy Vilna townspeople, Skaryna decided to continue his publishing activities in Vilna. In the early 1520s, he created his own printing house, which became the first both in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in Eastern Europe. The printing house was located not far from the market square of Vilna in the house of the “senior mayor” - the head of the city magistrate, Yakub Babich.

Around 1522, Skaryna’s Vilna printing house published the first book, which is traditionally called the “Small Travel Book.” The title page of the publication, where its author's title could be located, is not known. And since many Slavic manuscripts and printed books of that time did not have title pages at all, the question of its fundamental presence in the book is debatable. Therefore, the researchers gave the publication a conditional name, based on the text of the afterword by Francis Skaryna, which provides a list of all the works, “in this small travel book, briefly outlined in turn.”

In its content, the “Small Travel Book” is the Followed Psalter. This is a universal liturgical book, which, in addition to the biblical book of Psalms itself, consisting of prayer songs or psalms - repentant, thanksgiving, laudatory, petitionary, also included other works (sometimes up to 50), and above all - the Book of Hours, containing the texts of the unchangeable daily prayers liturgical circle, as well as the texts of some of the most commonly used modified prayers. “The Small Travel Book,” published by Francis Skaryna, consisted of 22 works. In addition to the Psalter and Book of Hours, it includes akathists and canons (church hymns) to the Mother of God, the Cross and Holy Sepulcher, Archangel Michael, Saints Peter and Paul, Saint Nicholas, and other texts.

Many researchers believe that Francisk Skaryna published these part texts in separate editions. Firstly, each work included in the book has its own page numbering, and in each subsequent work the numbering starts from the beginning. Secondly, each of the parts has its own title page, but there is no common title for the “Small Travel Book”. Thirdly, the few copies of the publication that have survived to this day are composed of part works in different orders. Unfortunately, not a single complete copy of the “Small Travel Book” has survived.

The book, located in the corporate collection of Belgazprombank OJSC, is one of the most complete: it has 18 parts, which are collected together in one binding, out of 22 possible. In 11 of them, afterwords written by Francis Skaryna have been preserved.

The book is decorated with ornamental headpieces and initials; it also contains engravings: “The Mother of God with the Child Jesus”, “The Baptism of the Lord”, “The Annunciation”, “The Lord in the Temple Teaches the Teachers of the Jews”, “The Mother of God with the Child Jesus and the Angels”. Taking into account the fact that there were no professional engravers in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at that time, researchers believe that the engraving boards from which the images were printed were brought by Francis Skaryna from Prague, as well as the fonts, due to which the publication is characterized by extremely high artistic and printing level.

It is believed that the “Small Travel Book”, characterized by a relatively small format (in the 8th part of the sheet), was intended not so much for church services, but for private reading - at home or while traveling, and could also be used in the process of teaching literacy.

Francis Skaryna is a famous Belarusian pioneer printer and educator. Over a 40-year career, he tried his hand at medicine, philosophy, and horticulture. He also traveled a lot, came to Russia, and communicated with the Prussian Duke.

The life of Francysk Skaryna, whose photo is included in our article, was very eventful. At a young age, he went to study science in Italy, where he became the first Eastern European graduate to receive the title of Doctor of Medicine. He was raised in the Catholic faith, but he studied Orthodoxy. Skaryna became the first person to begin translating the Bible into an East Slavic language understandable to his people. Until this time, all church books were written in Church Slavonic.

Bible translations into Slavic languages

The first translations of biblical books were made by Cyril and Methodius in the second half of the 9th century. They translated from Byzantine Greek copies into Church Slavonic (Stroslavian language), which they also developed, using their native Bulgarian-Macedonian dialect as a basis. A century later, other Slavic translations were brought from Bulgaria to Rus'. In fact, starting from the 11th century, the main South Slavic translations of biblical books became available to the Eastern Slavs.

Biblical translations performed in the 14th-15th centuries in the Czech Republic also influenced the translation activities of the Eastern Slavs. The Czech Bible was translated from Latin and was widely distributed throughout the 14th and 15th centuries.

And at the beginning of the 16th century, Francis Skorina translated the Bible into Church Slavonic in the Belarusian edition. This was the first translation of the Bible that was close to the vernacular.

Origin

Francis (Franciszek) Skaryna was born in Polotsk.

A comparison of university acts (entered the University of Cracow in 1504, and in the act of the University of Padua, dated 1512, he is presented as a “young man”) suggests that he was born around 1490 (possibly in the second half of the 1480s ). The biography of Francysk Skaryna is far from completely known to researchers.

They believe that the origin of the Skorina surname is connected with the ancient word “soon” (skin) or “skaryna” (crust).

The first reliable information about this family is known from the end of the 15th century.

Francis's father, Lukyan Skaryna, is mentioned in the list of Russian ambassadorial claims of 1492 against the Polotsk merchants. Francysk Skaryna had an older brother, Ivan. The royal decree calls him both a Vilnius tradesman and a Polotsk citizen. The godfather name of the Belarusian pioneer printer is also unknown. In her publications, Skaryna uses the name “Francis” more than 100 times, and occasionally “Franciszek”.

Below is a portrait of Francysk Skaryna, printed by him in the Bible.

Life path

Skorina received his primary education in his parents' house, where he learned to read and write in Cyrillic from the Psalter. He most likely learned the language of science of that time (Latin) at the church in Polotsk or Vilna.

In 1504, an inquisitive and enterprising Polotsk resident entered the university in Krakow, which at that time was famous in Europe for its Faculty of Liberal Arts, where they studied grammar, rhetoric, dialectics (the Trivium cycle) and arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music (the Quadrivium cycle ").

Studying at the university allowed Francysk Skaryna to understand what a broad outlook and practical knowledge the “seven liberal arts” bring to a person.

He saw all this in the Bible. He directed all his future translation and publishing activities towards making the Bible accessible to “the people of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.”

In 1506, Skaryna received his first bachelor's degree in philosophy.

Around 1508, Skaryna served as secretary to the Danish king.

In order to continue her studies at the most prestigious faculties of European universities (medical and theological), Skaryna also needed to become a Master of Arts.

It is not known exactly in which university this happened: in Krakow or some other, but in 1512 he arrived in Italy at the famous University of Padua, already having a master's degree in liberal arts. Skorina chose this educational institution to receive his doctorate in medicine.

The poor but capable young man was allowed to take the exams. For two days he participated in debates with prominent scientists, defending his own ideas.

In November 1512, in the episcopal palace, in the presence of famous scientists from the University of Padua and senior officials of the Catholic Church, Skaryna was declared a doctor in the field of medical sciences.

This was a significant event: the son of a merchant from Polotsk was able to prove that ability and vocation are more important than aristocratic origin. His portrait, created in the middle of the 20th century, is in the memorial hall among 40 portraits of famous European scientists who graduated from the University of Padua.

Skaryna also had a Doctor of Liberal Sciences degree. In Western European universities they called it the “seven liberal sciences.”

Family

In the short biography of Francis Skaryna, there is a mention that after 1525, the pioneer printer married Margarita, the widow of a Vilna merchant, member of the Vilna Council Yuri Advernik. At this time he served as a doctor and secretary to the bishop in Vilna.

The year 1529 was very difficult for Skaryna. In the summer, his brother Ivan died in Poznan. Francis went there to deal with issues related to the inheritance. That same year, Margarita suddenly died. Skaryna's young son Simeon remained in her arms.

In February 1532, Francis was arrested on unfounded and unsubstantiated charges by his late brother's creditors and ended up in Poznan prison. Only at the request of the son of the deceased Ivan (Roman’s nephew) was he rehabilitated.

Francysk Skaryna: interesting facts from life

It is assumed that in the late 1520s - early 1530s, the pioneer printer visited Moscow, where he took his books, published in Russian type. Researchers of Skaryna’s life and career believe that in 1525 he traveled to the German city of Wittenberg (the center of the Reformation), where he met with the ideologist of German Protestants, Martin Luther.

In 1530, Duke Albrecht invited him to Königsberg on printing business.

In the mid-1530s Skaryna moved to Prague. The Czech king invited him to the position of gardener in the open botanical garden in the royal castle of Hradcany.

Researchers of the biography of Francysk Skaryna believe that at the Czech royal court he most likely performed the duties of a qualified horticultural scientist. The title of doctor “in medicinal sciences,” which he received in Padua, required certain knowledge of botany.

From 1534 or 1535 Francis worked as the royal botanist in Prague.

Perhaps, due to insufficient knowledge, other interesting facts about Francis Skorina remained unknown.

Book publishing and educational activities

In the period from 1512 to 1517. The scientist appeared in Prague, the center of Czech printing.

To translate and publish the Bible, he needed not only to become familiar with Czech biblical studies, but also to thoroughly know the Czech language. In Prague, Francis orders printing equipment, after which he begins to translate the Bible and write commentaries on it.

Skaryna's book publishing activities combined the experience of European book printing and the traditions of Belarusian art.

The first book of Francis Skaryna is the Prague edition of one of the biblical books, the Psalter (1517).

F. Skorina translated the Bible into a language close to Belarusian and understandable to the common people (Church Slavonic language in the Belarusian edition).

With the support of patrons (these were the Vilna burgomaster Jakub Babich, advisers Bogdan Onkav and Yuri Advernik), he published 23 illustrated books of the Old Testament in Prague in the Old Russian language in 1517-1519. In sequence: Psalter (08/6/1517), Book of Job (10/6/1517), Proverbs of Solomon (10/6/2517), Jesus Sirachav (12/5/1517), Ecclesiastes (01/2/1518), Song of Songs (01/9/1517), book Wisdom of God (01/19/1518), First Book of Kings (08/10/1518), Second Book of Kings (08/10/1518), Third Book of Kings (08/10/1518), Fourth Book of Kings (08/10/1518), Joshua (12/20/1518) ), Judith (02/09/1519), Judges (12/15/1519), Genesis (1519), Exit (1519), Leviticus (1519), Ruth (1519), Numbers (1519), Deuteronomy (1519), Esther (1519) , Lamentations of Jeremiah (1519), Prophet Daniel (1519).

Each of the biblical books was published in a separate issue, with a title page, and had its own preface and afterword. At the same time, the publisher adhered to the same principles for presenting the text (the same format, typesetting, font, decoration). Thus, he provided for the possibility of bringing all publications under one cover.

The books contain 51 printed prints of the engraving on paper from the plate (board) on which the drawing was applied.

His own portrait was published three times in Francysk Skaryna’s books. In Eastern Europe, no other Bible publisher has ever done this.

According to researchers, the title page of the Bible bears the seal (coat of arms) of Skaryna, a doctor of medicine.

The translation, made by the first printer, is canonically accurate in conveying the letter and spirit of the biblical text, not allowing liberties or additions by the interpreter. The text preserves the state of the language corresponding to the Hebrew and Greek originals.

The books of Francysk Skaryna laid the foundation for the standardization of the Belarusian literary language and became the first translation of the Bible into the East Slavic language.

The Belarusian educator knew well the works of famous clergymen of those times, for example, St. Basil the Great - Bishop of Caesarea. He knew the works of John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian, to whom he refers. Its publications are Orthodox in content and are intended to meet the spiritual needs of the Orthodox population of Belarus.

Skaryna sought to give his commentaries on the Bible a simple and understandable form. They contain information about historical, everyday, theological, linguistic circumstances and realities. In the theological context, the main place in the prefaces and afterwords written by him was occupied by exagesis - an explanation of the contents of the books of the Old Testament as a harbinger and prophecy of New Testament events, the victory of Christianity in the world and hope for eternal spiritual salvation.

The photo below shows a coin of Francis Skaryna. It was published in 1990 to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of the glorious Belarusian pioneer printer.

The first Belarusian book

Around 1520, Francis founded a printing house in Vilnius. Perhaps he was forced to move the printing house to Vilna by the desire to be closer to his people, for whose education he worked (in those years, the Belarusian lands were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania). The premises for Skaryna’s printing house were allocated in his own house by the head of the magistrate of Vilnius, the “highest burgomaster” Jakub Babich.

The first Vilna edition is “The Small Travel Book.” Skaryna gave this name to a collection of church books he published in Vilnius in 1522.

In total, the “Little Road Book” includes: Psalter, Book of Hours, Akathist to the Holy Sepulcher, Canon of the Life-giving Sepulchre, Akathist to the Archangel Michael, Canon to the Archangel Michael, Akathist to John the Baptist, Canon to John the Baptist, Akathist to the Theotokos, Canon to the Mother of God, Akathist to Saints Peter and Paul, Canon to Saints Peter and Paul, Akathist to Saint Nicholas, Canon to Saint Nicholas, Akathist to the Cross of the Lord, Canon to the Cross of the Lord, Akathist to Jesus, Canon to Jesus, Shastidnevets, Canon of Repentance, Canon on Saturday at Matins, “Collegiates”, as well as the general afterword “Written Speeches” in this Small Travel Book.”

This was a new type of collection in East Slavic book writing, addressed both to people of clergy and secular ranks - merchants, officials, artisans, warriors, who, due to their activities, spent a lot of time on the road. These people needed spiritual support, useful information, and, if necessary, words of prayer.

The Psalter (1522) and “Apostle” (1525) published by Skaryna constitute a separate group of books that are not translated, but adapted from other Church Slavonic sources and approximate folk speech.

Edition of "Apostle"

In 1525, Skaryna published one of the most widespread books in Cyrillic in Vilnius - “The Apostle”. This was his first precisely dated and last publication, the release of which was a logical and natural continuation of the publication of biblical books, which began in Prague. Like the Small Travel Book, the Apostle of 1525 was intended for a wide range of readers. In many prefaces to the book, and in total the enlightener wrote 22 prefaces and 17 afterwords to the “Apostle,” the contents of sections and individual messages are described, and “obscure” expressions are explained. The entire text is preceded by a general preface by Skaryna, “By the Acts of Peace, the Apostle of Books Predmov.” It praises the Christian faith and draws attention to the moral and ethical norms of social human life.

Worldview

The views of the educator say that he was not only an educator, but also a patriot.

He contributed to the spread of writing and knowledge, as can be seen in the following lines:

“Every person needs to read, because reading is the mirror of our life, medicine for the soul.”

Francysk Skaryna is considered the founder of a new understanding of patriotism, which is seen as love and respect for one’s homeland. Of his patriotic statements, the following words of his attract attention:

“Even from birth, animals that walk in the desert know their pits, birds that fly through the air know their nests; fish swimming in the sea and in rivers smell their own scent; bees and those who harrow their hives, so do people, and where they were born and nurtured by God, they have great mercy to that place.”

And his words are addressed to us, today’s residents, so that people

“... they did not hate any kind of labor and government for the good of the commonwealth and for their Fatherland.”

His words contain the wisdom of life for many generations:

“There is an innate law that we observe more often: do for others everything that you yourself like to eat from others, and do not do for others what you yourself do not want from others... This innate law is for the One Series of each person.”

The meaning of activity

Francis Skaryna was the first to publish a book of psalms in the Belarusian language, that is, the first to use the Cyrillic alphabet. This happened in 1517. Two years later he had translated most of the Bible. In different countries there are monuments, streets and universities bearing his name. Skaryna is one of the outstanding people of the era.

He contributed greatly to the formation and development of the Belarusian language and writing. He was a highly spiritual person for whom God and man are inseparable.

His achievements are of great importance for culture and history. Reformers such as John Wycliffe translated the Bible in the Middle Ages and were persecuted. Skaryna was one of the first Renaissance humanists to take up this task again. Indeed, his Bible preceded Luther's translation by several years.

According to public recognition, this was not yet an ideal result. The Belarusian language was just developing, so the text retained elements of the Church Slavonic language, as well as borrowings from Czech. In fact, the enlightenment created the foundations of the modern Belarusian language. Let us remember that he was only the second scientist to type in Cyrillic. His elegant prefaces are among the first examples of Belarusian poetry.

For the first printer, the Bible had to be written in accessible language so that it could be understood not only by learned people, but also by ordinary people. The books he published were intended for the laity. Many of the ideas he expressed were similar to the ideas of Martin Luther. Like the Protestant reformers, the Belarusian educator understood the importance of new technologies in disseminating his ideas. He headed the first printing house in Vilna, and his projects were of great importance outside Belarus.

Skaryna was also an excellent engraver: his vibrant woodcuts depicting biblical figures in traditional Belarusian costume helped illiterate people understand religious ideas.

During his lifetime, Francis Skaryna was not widely known throughout the world, since there has never been an Orthodox reformation in world history. After his death the situation changed little. He did not destroy his familiar world as decisively as Luther did. In fact, Skaryna himself probably would not have been able to understand the idea of ​​reformation. Despite his innovative use of language and art, he had no desire to completely destroy the structure of the Church.

However, he remained popular among his compatriots. He attracted the attention of 19th-century nationalists who wanted to emphasize the importance of the “first Belarusian intellectual.” Skaryna's work in Vilna gave grounds to demand that the city gain independence from Poland.

In the photo below is a monument to Francis Skorina in Minsk. Monuments to the Belarusian pioneer printer are also located in Polotsk, Lida, Kaliningrad, and Prague.

Last years

The last years of his life, Francis Skaryna was engaged in medical practice. In the 1520s, he was a doctor and secretary to Bishop Jan of Vilna, and already in 1529, during an epidemic, he was invited to Königsberg by the Prussian Duke Albrecht of Hohenzollern.

In the mid-1530s, at the Czech court, he took part in the diplomatic mission of Sigismund I.

The pioneer printer died no later than January 29, 1552. This is evidenced by the charter of King Ferdinand II given to Francis Skaryna’s son Simeon, which allowed the latter to use all of his father’s preserved heritage: property, books, debt obligations. However, the exact date of death and burial place have not yet been established.

Below in the photo is the Order of Francis Skaryna. It is awarded to citizens for educational, research, humanitarian, and charitable activities for the benefit of the Belarusian people. Award approved 04/13. 1995.

The Great Enlightenment and Modernity

Currently, the highest awards in Belarus are named after Skaryna: an order and a medal. Also, educational institutions and streets, libraries and public associations are named after him.

Today, the book heritage of Francysk Skaryna numbers 520 books, many of which are located in Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany. About 50 countries have publications of the Belarusian pioneer printer. There are 28 copies in Belarus.

In 2017, which was dedicated to the 500th anniversary of Belarusian printing, a unique monument, the “Small Travel Book,” was returned to the country.

March 3, Minsk / Corr. BELTA/. “The Small Book of Roads” by Francysk Skaryna (1522, Vilna) will travel around Europe in May, and today the international exhibition project “On Skaryna’s Roads with Belgazprombank” was presented in Minsk at the National Library of Belarus, BELTA reports.

As Chairman of the Board of Belgazprombank Viktor Babariko said, the idea of ​​the project is to present Skaryna’s legacy in the countries with which the pioneer printer’s life was connected. The international project will start in May in Lithuania, and then go to Poland, the Czech Republic, and Italy. The “tour of Europe” will end in Belarus, where the exhibition project will be presented during the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Belarusian printing in Polotsk.

The central exhibit of the exhibition project will be the “Small Travel Book” from the corporate collection of Belgazprombank. This is a collection of small-format church books intended for travelers: “Psalter”, “Speaker of Hours”, “Shesidnevich”, “Sobornik”, akathists, canons. There are 18 books in one binding, decorated with unique engravings, headpieces and initials, 9 of which have an afterword by Skaryna himself. Experts consider this book to be the first book published in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Today this is the only copy of the book in Belarus.

According to Viktor Babariko, it is not entirely ethical to talk about the cost of rarities when it comes to a publication such as “The Small Travel Book,” since such things remain outside the information provided to the public. At the same time, Viktor Babariko joked that Skorina is now in price, and gave an approximate amount, proposing to multiply the cost of an ordinary book by 18.

Talking about negotiations with the owner of a collection of small-format church books intended for travelers, Viktor Babariko noted that the bank joined the negotiation process two years ago. A big role in the positive resolution of the issue was played by the fact that the former owner of the rarity, a Belarusian, is very sensitive to his homeland. In addition, the memorable date - the 500th anniversary of Belarusian book printing - prompted the collector to quickly search for a compromise, and on his part this was a great gift, noted Viktor Babariko. The story of how the book was found is the subject of a separate investigation by detective writers, joked the chairman of the board of Belgazprombank. In Minsk they learned about her location in the center of Russia; it is assumed that she was originally in Siberia.

According to the director of the National Library of Belarus, Roman Motulsky, the acquisition of the “Small Travel Book” by Belgazprombank into the collection puts Belarus in third position in terms of the amount of Skaryna’s original heritage. The largest number of books today is in Russia, and in total it is known that there are 520 originals by Francis Skaryna in the world.

The director of the NBB emphasized that the presence of the publication in the corporate collection does not pose any difficulties for its exhibition; viewers have the opportunity to get acquainted with it. The important fact is that this is the property of Belarus, he said.

The exposition of the international exhibition project will be supplemented by “The Book of Job” by Francis Skaryna (1517, Prague) from the collections of the National Library of Belarus. You can see valuable masterpieces in Minsk at the exhibition “Francis Skaryna and his era” at the NLB.

In addition, the exposition of the exhibition project will be supplemented by the host party. In particular, it is planned to present two books by Francysk Skaryna in the Czech Republic. The international exhibition project also involves the organization of conferences, lectures, and meetings.

Of interest to exhibition visitors will be a visit to the virtual workshop of the pioneer printer. In addition, guests will be able to watch the documentary film “On Skaryna’s Roads,” which is planned to be shown with subtitles in the language of the host country. -0-

Photo by Oksana Manchuk.