Old Believers
Siberian Scriptoria
Old Believers are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1652 and 1666.
Old Believers had great respect for books and learning. Denied access to the printing press for most of their history, they maintained networks of scriptoria which produced thousands of books some of remarkable beauty, painstakingly copied by hand. 1
To a large extent, the tradition was maintained by the Chasovennye (“chapel goers”, a non-priestly faction among Old Believers), who strictly adhered to the rule of never publishing their literature in “external” printing houses. In Yenisei Siberia, where they owned no printing houses, skete scriptoria were used as workshops for manuscripts to be hand-copied, illustrated and bound, thus producing handmade books. 2 Along with the textual content of the books, of great interest is the tradition of illustrating them, inseparably linking the tradition of designing Old Believers’ printed books and manuscripts.
Photograph from Archeographic Expeditions to the Schismatic Monasteries on the Upper Malyi Enisei River (Tuva, 1966-75)3
In 1990 an exhibit was held at the Library of Congress, Living Traditions of Russian Faith: Books & Manuscripts of the Old Believers : an Exhibition at the Library of Congress, May 31-June 29, 1990. You can view the exhibit catalog at the Library of Congress website.4
N.N. Pokrovsii. “Western Siberian Scriptoria and Binderies: Ancient Traditions Among the Old Believers.” The Book Collector 20 (spring 1971): 19-32.
Костров, Александр Валерьевич, and Юлия Валерьевна Елохина. “Religious and Cultural Space of Chasovennye Old Believers in Illustrations to Their New-Printed Books.” Novye Issledovaniâ Tuvy, no. 3 (2021): 128–36.
Skriptoriĭ ott︠s︡a Palladii︠a︡. Rolikovye shtampy dli︠a︡ tisnenii︠a︡ perepleta. Scriptorium of Father Palladii. Roller Stamps for Book Bindings.
Smith, Abby, and Vladimir Budaragin. Living Traditions of Russian Faith: Books & Manuscripts of the Old Believers : an Exhibition at the Library of Congress, May 31-June 29, 1990. Washington: Library of Congress, 1990.
The Old Believers exhibit at LoC was just before the fall of the USSR. The video has considerable commentary by Librarian of COngress Billington who sounded quite moved by them.
Oh, Kathleen. Isn't there a paid version for this treasure of a newsletter? You are so consistent in lighting up my inbox, it's easy to overlook the fact that this is simply the best thing I am subscribed to, period. I forget who tipped me off to you but I should be paying them, too. I can't see a paid subscription link here - is that by design?