Bookvica

[MANUSCRIPT] Pravila, kotorye ispolniat dolzhno [i.e. The rules, that one should follow]

Item #2645

No place, [1800—20s]. 52 p. 17,5 × 11 cm. Original period cardboard binding. Ink number «21» on the front endpaper.

The manuscript book of life advices form first quarter of XIXth century. We could not trace a source of the text, or confirm whether it was original. It starts with the chapter ‘On revenge’, moving on to ‘Careful with words’, ‘On education’, ‘On hypocrisy’, ‘On helping the poor’ finished with ‘On fornication’. Than the next set of rules beings, called ‘The rules of the wise one in life’, which concentrates on spiritual life more, promotes self-knowledge and the love to God. The third set of rules is called ‘True christian rules from which you can determined whether you are a good soul or a hypocrite’. Then follows two poems, first of which is called ‘Razmyshlenie’ and the next one ‘Stikhi Anakreoticheskie’. The last page consists of the digest of all the rules, mentioned in a book also in verse.

Judging by the fact that the manuscript is composed with one hand, but with slight variation of the handwriting, this notebook could have been complied by one person as a reminder of the rules. A slight masonic spirit of the writings might just as well reflect the tendencies of the time, in which it was complied, when the spiritual discipline was very popular in Russia. Unfortunately, the notebook which is filled in full doesn’t have any notes of ownership or stamps, the number 21 suggests that it might be a part of bigger manuscript group, when created.

Price: $1,200.00