A BOOK ABOUT FAITH FROM THE SPASO-LOMSKAIA HERMITAGE

This is a study of a copy of A Book about Faith (Kniga o vere), which was published in Moscow in 1648. The book was found in Vyatka in 2019 during an archaeographic expedition organized by the Repository of Ancient Manuscripts (Drevlekhranilishche) of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkinskii Dom) in St. Petersburg. According to a note in the book, this copy was donated to the Spaso-Lomskaia Ignatieva Hermitage in 1659. This copy of A Book about Faith represents one of the few pieces of evidence for the early period of Saint Ignatii Lomskii’s veneration. This study shows that the book was donated when the hermitage was under the rule of Steward Grigorii (Ivan Neronov) and that its donor was Feoktist, the former hegumen of the Moscow Zlatoust Monastery. The note represents Feoktist’s autograph. The note is examined in the context of his biography and literary activities. A detailed examination of this note also reveals new materials concerning the history of the Spaso-Lomskaia Hermitage. One of the findings is that one book that represented a gift by Tsarina Maria Ilinichna, which is now housed in the collection of M. I. Chuvanov in the Russian State Library in Moscow, once belonged to the library of the Spaso-Lomskaia Ignatieva Hermitage.