Chapter Явление книжника или Пути изучения рукописного наследия Прохора Коломнятина

Abstract

The Coming of the Bookman or Approaches to the Manuscript Heritage of Prokhor Kolomnyatin Presenting a review of the historiography from 1854 to the present, this article examines the scholarly study of the Russian bookman Prokhor Kolomnyatin (17th c.). It investigates how and why Prokhor’s works attracted the attention of scholars, how they collected information about him, and bit by bit solved various riddles associated with him. Researchers uncovered four miscellanies collected by him: in particular, the one containing School abecedaria is known in eight copies. These miscellanies contain a variety of works, including poetic ones. Prokhor actively employed acrostics and cryptograms, which scholars have gradually managed to decipher. Other questions have focused on who Prokhor was and what his goals were in assembling his miscellanies. The answers that have been given vary, but one may argue that many issues have been satisfactorily resolved.