A lovely example of this richly illustrated chronicle, complete and unusually bound in full contemporary red sheep with gauffered edges

The Patericon is a famous collection of edifying tales, anecdotes, and apophthegms about saints, Church Fathers, and prominent monks of the Kyiv Pechersk Cave Monastery. Originally compiled in the 13th century, it is 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 who, 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 Kyiv Silvestr Kossov (d. 1657) and published in Polish in 1635. The first translation into Church Slavonic appeared 26 years later under the initiative of the archimandrite Innokentiy and in the 18th century fine and decorative woodcuts were added to its well written text and engaging stories about the lives of Saints and monks. This made the work increasingly popular, and in 1759 the Moscow Synodal typography published a new edition, reviewed and amended according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church.

The present edition is nicely illustrated with earlier woodcuts, showing great feats of the fathers, the Lavra itself and some caves. It is uncommon as we could not trace any copy of this edition in RGB or RNB, and Worldcat located no copies in Western libraries.

Folio (38.5 x 23.5 cm), fifteenth issue. Title, [1], 2, 6, 9, [1], 213, 15 ll., with an engraved plate, and multiple woodcuts in text; manuscript number on title. Contemporary full red sheep, covers with gilt borders, flat spine gilt in compartments, black morocco label with gilt lettering, all edges gilt and decoratively embossed; slightly rubbed.

Cf. for earlier editions Sopikov 814.