Bookvica

[16th CENTURY] Tetraevangelie [i.e. Altar Tetra Gospel]. Manuscript

Item #2703

[Ukraine, Great Duchy of Lithuania], ca. 1540-1550s. 335 leaves. 34x22 cm. Cloth over recent wooden boards, recent clasps. The codex was rebound in XXth. century, using the old cloth. New endpapers. Gospel is complete, except for 3 leaves in second quire, re-written in XXth century in the style of the manuscript, filling out the text of the missing leaves in similar style. An old water stain through the first 30 leaves. Occasional wax spots, as well as minor stains. The margins of leaves are strengthened throughout the book, not extensively. The strengthening was done periodically in the last four centuries of the codex’s existence. The last page is missing the bottom half, but the text and the final ending are not affected. The text of all four gospels preserved in full. Ornamentation: two-color text, in black and red, using the cinnabar for the red letters in the text. Balkan-style multicolor headpieces in cinnabar, ink, ochre, green and blue paints at the beginning of each Gospel and the monthly section (l. 17, 103, 160, 252, 320). Balkan-style braided initials at the beginning of each Gospel; initials in 3-4 lines, marks and rubrication in cinnabar on the margins (zachaly & lombardy); figured endings at the end of sections; vyaz’ (ligature).

The manuscript is executed in one hand, using identical semi-uncial (half-uncial) script. The same type of paper is used throughout the book. The paper has a distinguishable watermark of a boar, which corresponds with the several 1540s watermarks in from the manuscripts, originating in Great Duchy of Lithuania in 1540s: Piccart, 85560 (1541); 85566 (1548); 85580 (1545). The owner’s inscription, that we date as mid-XVII handwriting, on the verso of leaf 16, makes it possible to narrow down the geography of the creation of the manuscript to Northern Ukraine. In half-uncial the inscription is written in Ukrainian on gifting the book to Chernihiv area church by three people, two of which are likely identifiable: ‘In the name of God and his Son and the Holy Ghost. We, the slaves of the Lords, Grishko Kosakevich and Iatsko Tereshkovish and Danylo Klymovich gave this book, called the Altar Gospel to the church Makoshinky, dedicated to the father our father, the bishop and miracle worker Nicholas, for eternity for releasing of our sins…’

Makoshino is an ancient village in the Mensky District of the Chernihiv Oblast on the Desna River. In the mid-17th century, the Kyiv voivode Adam Kisiel founded the Orthodox St. Nicholas Monastery near the village. Its first buildings were the wooden St. Nicholas Church and cells. The book was likely donated to the monastery shortly after its founding and used in liturgies. In 1786, the monastery was closed as a result of secularization.

Yatsko (Yakiv, Yatsuta) Tereshkovich was the Baryshpol mayor, or starosta (headman) of Boryspil from 1637 to 1640. Grishko (Grytsko, Grigoriy) Kosachevych was a local priest and a member of the noble Yavorsky-Kosachevych family.

There are few other abrupt inscriptions in the book, including the example of Ukrainian cursive of late XVII-early XVIII cent on the l.335 (completing the prayers in text). Recent provenance: the book was bought by the collector of Church-related books and objects in Georgia in mid-XXth century. The most recent restoration was done around 1960-1970s. The book has been approved for export by the Sakartvelos kulturisa da sportis saministro (Ministry of Culture) in 2025.

Extremely rare example of manuscript, created prior to the introduction of printing to Ukrainian lands. The gospel was aimed to be a centrepiece of the local church and used during liturgy several times for the reading each day. The text highlights the "zachalas" – the rubrication of readings for the liturgies of the liturgical year. Each Gospel is preceded by a table of contents and a preface by Theophylact, Bishop of Bulgaria. At the beginning of the manuscript (pp. 1-16 verso) is the "Tale of the Gospels, which covers the entire year," indicating the readings for the entire year. The monthly section is traditionally located at the end of the codex, followed by indications of the Gospel readings for selected feasts (pp. 320-335). A Tetra Gospel, or Four Gospels, is a type of Gospel in which all four canonical books follow one another, and the text is organized chronologically, according to the order of the chapters. Most East Slavic Tetra Gospels have survived only in fragments, and complete copies are rare.

The large, beautiful semi-uncial script of the manuscript is typical of books that were given as valuable donations to a church or monastery. Overall, the manuscript gives the impression of a richly commissioned codex. This is also seen by the headpieces, which feature Balkan ornamentation with large, braided initials at the beginning of each chapter. Balkan ornamentation replaced teratological ("monstrous") ornamentation as a result of South Slavic influence and dominated manuscripts in the 15th and first half of the 16th centuries. It is characterized by geometric ribbon weaving, multicolored patterns, and stylized decorations. Moreover, the design of this manuscript also contains teratological motifs, which had practically fallen out of use by the 16th century — the heads of snakes or dragons in the initial 3 at the beginning of the Gospel of Mark. It’s likely that the scribe also worked on the ornamentation headpieces as the same cinnabar is used. If that’s the case the manuscript was likely created without full-page miniatures: the commission of such work was expensive as it was and the lands around Chernihiv were not rich at the time: we can see that there was a need of three co-donators for the book to become a part of liturgical library at St. Nicolas monastery in mid-XVII century.
Ukrainian and Belarusian manuscripts of the 14th–16th centuries have been studied far less than their Great Russian counterparts and are rarer. During this period, regional traditions in book production began to emerge, so each manuscript is of undoubted research interest.
This manuscript was created during the early rise of Ukrainian and Belarusian book culture. Its centuries old Ukrainian provenance is also important—many manuscripts from this region are known from the collections of Muscovite Rus'. The record of the manuscript's donation to the St. Nicholas Makoshyn Monastery dates to the time of numerous uprisings against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which culminated in the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648–1657).

Price: $75,000.00

Status: On Hold