Source studies

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PHJ № 2 (50) 2026 — A. L. Gryaznov. ACTS OF THE KIRILLO-BELOZERSKY MONASTERY IN THE СOLLECTION OF N. G. GOLOVIN

The article examines the provenance of the archival records of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, transferred to the Charter Fund of the College of Economy in the latter half of the 18th century. A comparison of the inventories of acts sent from the monastery revealed that two dozen acts of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery, transferred to the Charter Fund of the College of Economy, were stolen from there in the 19th century. A selection of these have been acquired by N. G. Golovin’s collection. The collection of ancient Russian acts by N. G. Golovin has been linked to the forgery of Golovin, which entailed the removal of original documents from the archive and their replacement with counterfeits. A thorough examination of the documents contained within the Golovin collection revealed that all acts pertaining to the Kirill-Belozersky Monastery were in fact obtained illegally from the Charter Fund of the College of Economy. The majority of the other letters from the Golovinsky collection also originate from the monastery archives and were stolen from the Charter Fund of the College of Economy. The theft and subsequent replacement of the coins with forgeries is believed to have occurred in the mid‑1840s.

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PHJ № 2 (50) 2026 — M. E. Proskuryakova. “INVOCATIO” IN THE TSAR’ CHARTERS OF THE 16TH–17TH CENTURIES

The article analyses alterations in the textual configuration of initial protocol in tsar’ charters on land and privileges in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, as evidenced by the incorporation of “invocatio” into these documents. The term “invocatio” is derived from the Latin word for “invoke”, and thus refers to an appeal to Divine authority. This declaration was intended to strengthen the legitimacy of the grant, formalised in writing. The article examines the history of the use of the formula “By the Grace of God” prior to its inclusion in Tsar’ charters in the late 16th century. In addition, the terminology employed by Russian scholars in relation to the formulas associated with sacred names is also given due consideration. Drawing upon the observations and conclusions of historians, the article delineates the purpose of “invocatio” and the circumstances of its inclusion in the text of charters from the 14th to 16th centuries. The study then proceeds to analyse the text structure of Tsar’s charters issued to secular individuals and clerical corporations during the Time of Troubles and the first decade of Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov’s reign. The present study focuses on the replacement of the formula “Se yaz” (“It is me”) with the formula “Bozhieyu milostiyu” (“By the Grace of God”) towards the end of the 1590s. The present study is grounded in a compendium of documents from the collection of the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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PHJ № 2 (50) 2026 — A. M. Vvedensky. THE INITIAL PART OF THE PSKOV CHRONICLES: ON THE ISSUE OF SOURCES

The article focuses on the initial segment of the Pskov chronicles, spanning from the inception of the narrative to 6573/1065. In this section, the text of the Pskov Second Chronicle deviates from the text found in the Pskov First and Pskov Third Chronicles. A comprehensive textual analysis of the Pskov Second Chronicle reveals that its compiler employed a single chronicle source, specifically the Novgorod First Chronicle, in the initial section. This finding suggests that the compiler did not draw upon additional chronicles during the composition process. The common protograph of the Pskov First and Pskov Third was derived from two chronicle texts: The Novgorod First Chronicle and the Brief Novgorod Chronicler. The compiler of the Pskov Third Chronicle also drew upon the content of several chronicles belonging to the Novgorod-Sofia group. The article provides a compelling argument to support the hypothesis that the initial part was absent from the general protograph of all Pskov chronicles.

PHJ № 1 (49) 2026 — I. E. Lebedeva. PRINTED CALLIGRAPHY MANUALS OF THE 16TH CENTURY AND HANDWRITTEN SAMPLE BOOKS

Studying the relationship between printed writing manuals and handwritten books of samples will help us understand how exactly these manuals were used by master calligraphers of their time. An example of a book of samples is the Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta (MCM) manuscript, currently divided into two volumes and housed in the Getty Museum (Los Angeles, USA) and the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna, Austria). The pages of both volumes have been digitized and are available for downloading from the museums’ websites. They are striking in their sophistication and high level of writing and illumination. However, the composition of the MCM texts is extremely heterogeneous and has puzzled the researches. Comparison of the MCM texts with the texts of 16th-century writing manuals allows us to conclude that the source of at least several pages of the MCM were precisely the manuals, and not the books or original documents that the author of the MCM, George Bocskay, had to work with in the line of duty. The study of the copies and originals included their textual, linguistic and paleographic analysis. With the exception of quotations from the Bible and various prayers, these are letters — both personal and official, quotations from fiction, as well as names in the form of monograms — the so-called cryptography, notarial records, moralizing sayings and the Hebrew alphabet. Quotations from the Bible are given in Latin, the remaining texts are written in national languages. Among the copied are two decorative types of writing — Lettera Rognosa and Lettera Trattizata, as well as non-decorative ones: the classic Cancellaresca of Arrighi, the italic with some letter connections and loops in place of the ascenders, the letter of papal bulls, the classic trade letter and its regional (most likely Venetian) variety, Fraktur and Gothic cursive.

PHJ № 1 (49) 2026 — A. V. Chirkova. DOCUMENTS OF THE DOGES OF VENICE FROM THE 14TH TO THE FIRST HALF OF THE 16TH CENTURY COLLECTED BY NIKOLAY P. LIKHACHEV: ON THE HISTORY OF THE COLLECTION

In the West European Section of the Archive of the St. Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences, there are 64 original charters from Venetian doges dating from the 14th to the first half of the 16th century: 18 sentences (ducali maggiori) and 46 letters (ducali minori). They originate from the collection of Academician N. P. Likhachev and were purchased for his Museum of Palaeography, where the history of writing was represented from the turn of the 3rd–4th millennium BC, primarily through documentary monuments. The documents were acquired between 1892 and 1914 at European auctions and through correspondence with other collectors. Thanks to Likhachev’s annotations on the covers of the charters, it is possible to establish the time and place of acquisition for 20 documents: private collections of Gabriele Fantoni (4) and Alexander Posonyi (2, by the Friedrich Cohn auction), auctions of Pio Luzzetti (7), Tammaro De Marinis (3), Gabriel Charavay (1), Sotheby’s (1), “Gilhofer und Ranschburg” (2). Through the analysis of owners’ inscriptions on the covers and on the charters themselves, the provenance of the documents is traced back to the collections of Gian Carlo Rossi (10), Luigi Azzolini (2), presumably Luigi Arrigoni and Amilcare Ancona (1), and two unattributed collectors (4 and 2). The analysis of the provenance shows that before being accumulated in Likhachev’s collection, these ancient acts changed hands multiple times.

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PHJ № 3 (47) 2025 — A. N. Chistikov. ORDERS OF THE FILM REPERTOIRE CONTROL DEPARTMENT AS A HISTORICAL SOURCE

The article is devoted to the analysis of the orders of the Department for the Control of film Repertoire of the Main Directorate of Cinematography and Film Distribution as a historical source. These materials have not yet been subjected to a source assessment. The orders for 1954–1955 are used for the study. In the history of the country, these were the first years of the activity of the new political leadership, which led to noticeable changes in the domestic and foreign policy of the state. In the history of cinema, the period of low-quality has come to an end. The orders included an assessment of the movies’ readiness for rental or for continued display. According to the results of such an examination, they were divided into four groups: 1) allow, 2) extend, 3) remove, and 4) make corrections. The analysis of the orders leads the author to the conclusion that their use by historians will contribute to a more in-depth study of the history of Soviet cinema and film distribution, as well as state policy in the field of leisure. In some cases, orders can be considered as one of the tools for recording changes in the domestic and foreign policy of the Soviet country in the mid‑1950s and forming a new public opinion of Soviet viewers.