famous collection of edifying tales, anecdotes, and apothegms about saints, the Church Fathers, and prominent monks of the Kyiv Pechersk Cave Monastery.

Patericon was originally compiled in XIII century and largely based on two letters written by the monks of the Kyiv Pechersk monastery Simon and Polikarp retelling the lives of the ascetics of the cave monastery that by their sublime acts glorified the Kiev shrine. Later manuscripts of Patericon incorporated also stories about the establishment and development of the monastery, its interior embellishment and its first inhabitants.

The original printed edition was edited by the metropolitan of Kiev Silvestr Kossov (1647-1657) and published in Polish in 1635. The first translation into Church Slavonic appeared 26 years later under the initiative of the archimandrite Innokentiy. In 1759 Moscow Synodal typography published a new edition of the Patericon, reviewed and amended according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church. Its well written text and engaging stories about the lives of Saints and monks made the work increasingly popular, which led to multiple editions published over the course of three centuries.

Folio (37.6 x 25 cm). [2], 278 ll., with illustrations in text;small marginal tear to one leaf. Contemporary polished calf stamped in blind; rubbed, corners bumped, small splits to bottom of spine.


Sopikov (earlier editions) 814.