Beschreibung:

[CHURCH SLAVONIC]. Mineia Obshchaia. [General Menaion]. [Moscow: Andronik Timofeev Nevezha?, 1600]. Rare first edition of this important Eastern Orthodox liturgical book, in Russian binding. The Menaion contained texts for the service or celebration of specific observances, saints or events, which are tied to fixed calendar dates. In its complete form it was made of twelve volumes, one for each month. The Mineia Obshchaia , or General Menaion , was a simplified version. In it, services were not linked to any specific saint, but instead to types of saints; specific names could be added according to liturgical needs. The General Menaion thus provided the necessary texts to perform services for virtually any saint, including the more local or less widely known ones for whom a full Menaion service was not available. The binding decoration displays composite features originating in the Moscow region. The upper board reprises the panel structure used at the bindery of the Trinity-St Sergius Monastery; the lower board, cross-hatched with fleurons in blind, is reminiscent of the Miracle Binder’s style. Zernova 15; Izd. Kiril. Pechati XV-XVI 140; Pozdeeva 66. Klepikov, ‘Russian Bookbinding’, p. 416, 419; Pozdeeva, Moskovskii Pechatnyi Dvor , pp. 18-19. Octavo (162 x 120mm). ff. [555] (against 594 ff. in Zernova), text in red and black, woodcut initials and ornaments (230 ff. supplied in a late 19th-century hand, finger-soiled, some slight browning, one leaf loose, another few strengthened at gutter, minor marginal tearing or fraying, crude mainly marginal repair in places, scattered ink splashes, oil or damp stains, couple of small worm holes just touching text, last leaf mounted). 17th-century brown calf, recased, bevelled wooden boards, two clasps, blind ruled to a panel design, upper board with floral stamps and lozenge-shaped centrepiece in blind, lower with blind-tooled cross-hatched decoration with fleurons, raised bands, spine tooled in blind (rebound, boards rubbed, spine cracked). Provenance: contemporary faded inscription (one leaf) – near contemporary ex-libris of Kondratii Evdokimov (ffep) – later monogram EH (fly) – faded occasional later annotations throughout.