Literacy was necessary not only in church services, but also in trade and economic affairs. The spread of literacy, but not enlightenment and education, is evidenced by the many birch bark letters excavated in Novgorod by A.V. Artsikhovsky in 1951. In subsequent decades, an extremely large number of them were found.

Birch bark letter. Novgorod, 1100–1120

On birch bark, townspeople, artisans, and small traders kept household accounts and business notes. They wrote promissory notes, wills, lists of duties, petitions asking for various benefits, usurious mortgages, private letters, notebooks and even comic messages. Children were taught the alphabet and writing using birch bark. Occasionally there are recordings of liturgical content.

The popularity of birch bark letters is evidenced by their large number and the geography of places of use. They existed in Smolensk, Pskov, Staraya Russa, they were also excavated in Moscow, in front of Red Square at the Resurrection Gate. Two birch bark letters were found in the Belarusian cities of Vitebsk and Mstislavl. Birch bark letters as a historical source provide interesting information about medieval economic culture, the management system, legal norms and everyday aspects of the life of the Eastern Slavs.

Inscriptions are also found on many handicraft items: slate whorls, jugs, stocks, etc. On the spindle whorls, a necessary item for every family, there are owner’s inscriptions “Potvorin spindle”, “Molodilo”, “there is a prince”.

The Russians also made inscriptions on household dishes. There is a well-known inscription on an 11th-century clay jug made by a Kyiv master: “Blessed is this full pot.” Or, for example: “Behold the vessel of Petrov and his wife Marya.” From Novgorod of the 12th century, two magnificent silver kratir (bratilo) fell into our hands. They appear to have been "masterpieces" - examples required for admission into the silversmiths' guild. On one vessel it is written: “Lord, help your servant Florov. Bratilo did.” The inscription on the second: “Lord, help your servant Kostyantin. Costa did. Amen".

Drawing a birch bark letter

Many good Russians, as soon as they learned to write, immediately began to write on the walls of churches. Their inscriptions have completely different content. Here are requests to the Lord God for help, and household receipts, and “immortalization” of oneself who visited the temple, and ridicule of acquaintances, and caricatures, and indecent poems.

Literate people were not lazy to make wall inscriptions. He carved them with sharp objects deeply and thoroughly. Only thanks to such careful efforts can we now study ancient graffiti on the plaster of churches in Novgorod, Galich, Kyiv and other cities. Graffiti is found on almost all stone buildings of Ancient Rus'.

According to the “Charter” of Prince Vladimir, the letters that were “cut on the walls” were subject to ecclesiastical court. But the literate people of Kievan Rus continued to cut inscriptions on church walls even after more than a hundred years, which can be said with complete confidence, referring to the “Novgorod Charter of Grand Duke Vsevolod.” Despite the lord's court, the passionate desire to leave one's written memory on the temple did not fade throughout the Middle Ages and was passed on to us.

Unfortunately, this type of epigraphic source has been poorly studied, and yet we have such a small source base on the history of the culture of Kievan Rus. Graffiti is a rich material for the study of mass grassroots culture of the Middle Ages (just as modern wall inscriptions and drawings are of certain interest for our era).

Translation of birch bark charter
“A letter from Zhiznomir to Mikula. You bought a slave in Pskov, and the princess grabbed me for it (implied: convicting me of theft). And then the squad vouched for me. So send a letter to that husband, if he has a slave. But I want, having bought horses and mounted the prince’s husband, [to] go to confrontation. And you, if you haven’t [yet] taken that money, don’t take anything from him."

Another feature of the spread of writing in Ancient Rus' is secret writing. As soon as writing penetrated into fairly wide circles of the population, the need arose to classify what was written. Political, commercial, and economic affairs required hidden letters. Many different cryptogram techniques have emerged: some of them have not yet been deciphered, others are primitive to the point of naivety. In the 13th-14th centuries, the Glagolitic alphabet was often used as a hidden script, which by that time was already fairly forgotten. But it should be noted that for the majority of illiterate Russians, ordinary written text in Cyrillic remained a mystery.

Jewelry craftsmen also sometimes resorted to secret writing, making beautiful decorations from letters for greater importance.

In a later period, cipher writing is rarely found in icon painting. It was preserved, for example, on the most famous icon of the late 14th century - “Our Lady of the Don” (Tretyakov Gallery), attributed to Theophanes the Greek. Unfortunately, attempts by N.B. Salko's reading of the letter row on the border of the maforium as an icon painter's address to the Mother of God is not very convincing. At the same time, many art historians believe that secret writing was not used by icon painters and that it is only a font decoration that was quite common in Byzantine and Old Russian icon painting.

Contrary to the prevailing opinion about the illiteracy of medieval man, we are already in the 14th century. We find bookishness very widespread in Moscow (this was the word then used to describe literacy, the ability to read a book). The Moscow clergy could not conduct services without books. Therefore, the “priest’s sons,” who learned to read and write early, made up the bulk of Moscow copyists. Many merchants were also literate. The merchant letters known today are often written in a very glib “book language”. Teaching literacy was part of the education program for boyar children. Literacy in these circles meant the ability to read and sing psalms. The level of such literacy was quite high in Moscow at that time. No wonder they used to say about Dmitry Donskoy that he was not trained in “the subtleties of psalmody and poetry,” that is, he was simply literate.

The centers of Moscow “bookishness” were monasteries. Books were accumulated here, and entire schools of not only scribes, but also translators were created.

The first Moscow handwritten books. Already Ivan Kalita attached great importance to “many books written by his command.” Among them is the Siya Gospel of 1339 - a famous example of an early Moscow handwritten book. The manuscript was made to a special order on parchment, with a clear, beautiful charter (the most solemn and strict of the handwritings in Rus') and decorated with delicately beautiful miniatures.

Already in the language of this manuscript the famous “Moscow akanye” appeared. In another Gospel (1354), the desire to bring the ancient language closer to the popular Muscovite language is clearly noticeable (for example, Ivan instead of John). The headband and initials are made in the form of animals and plants with red and brown lines on a green background.

Saving and restoring books by Muscovites. Muscovites valued their books very much. During the attack of Tokhtamysh in 1382, “so many books were demolished from the whole city, and from the outskirts, and from the villages, in the cathedral churches they were piled up to the brim, and for the sake of preservation they were sent away.” Unfortunately, all this wealth was then burned in a Moscow fire caused by the Tatars.

After the “Tatar” era, Moscow monasteries quickly began restoring books. The monks of the Chudov and Andronikov monasteries were especially distinguished by their diligence. It was then that these monasteries developed their own special book style. The manuscripts were written out finely on parchment in two columns and were richly decorated with animal ornaments. The handwriting used to copy books was also special. This was the famous Moscow half-rut. It remained in printed publications until the end of the 19th century.

Old printed style of Moscow manuscripts. Moscow scribes also developed a special style of ornamentation in hand-drawn headpieces. In the 19th century it was called “old printing.” It is an elongated horizontal rectangle with protruding decorations in the center and corners. Inside the rectangle is a black and white stamp in a patterned rainbow frame. Professional copyists were then called in Moscow “robots”, “scribes”, “book writers”, “dobroscribes”. There were also women who were “good writers.”

Column scrolls. The manuscript sheets were glued together into incredibly long scrolls called “columns.” Thus, the text of the Council Code of 1649 is written on a column more than three hundred meters long. All this greatly complicated the already red-tape affairs of the Moscow orders. And only Peter I, by decree of 1700, prohibited conducting business in columns. Sometimes manuscripts were folded into notebooks and attached to plank bindings with very expensive design (hence: “read from board to board”). Such books were so cherished in Moscow that on some there are inscriptions: “And if a priest or deacon, after reading, does not fasten all the fasteners, may he be damned!” By the 14th century paper also appeared in Moscow. The first monument known to us, written on paper, is the spiritual testament of Simeon the Proud.

Moscow is the book capital. In the 15th century Moscow was already considered the book capital of Rus'. Here you could buy almost any of the spiritual books in a variety of bindings or place an order for it from scribes.

All historical works, starting from the second half of the 14th century, passed through the hands of Moscow dobroscribes. In the extensive Moscow chronicles we find the legend of Tokhtamysh’s invasion, the journey of Metropolitan Pimen to Constantinople, and the lives of Metropolitans Peter and Alexy. Even then, “Zadonshchina”, “The Legend and Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev”, and “The Life of Dmitry Ivanovich” emerged as independent works.

The beginning of book printing in Moscow. The rapid development of the handwritten book culture eventually led to the need for printing. The history of the printed book began in Moscow under Ivan the Terrible, who himself was considered very well-read. His extensive library in Russian, Greek, Latin and Hebrew delighted foreign ambassadors. He also gave money for the construction of a “house” in 1563 at Nikolsky Krestets (the intersection on Nikolskaya Street). where the printing business will be built.” Deacon Ivan Fedorov and his comrades, Pyotr Timofeevich Mstislavets and Marusha Nefediev, worked in this first printing house. They worked slowly, but very carefully. And in 1564 the first printed book “Apostle” appeared in Moscow, and the following year - “Book of Hours”.

“Apostle” is the first Russian printed book. We do not know in what edition the Apostle was printed. Today sixty-two specimens are known and more are being discovered. This famous book is so precise in proportions (height and width of font, margins, placement of text and headpieces, initials, etc.) that it still gives the impression of artistic perfection.

Flight of I. Fedorov from Moscow. However, after the first publications, the activities of printers in Moscow ceased. They said that numerous Moscow scribes did not want to lose their jobs, rightly seeing a rival in the printing press, and that they set fire to the printing yard at night. Printers were forced to flee Moscow. But Ivan Fedorov himself later wrote that he fled from Moscow not from the census takers, but because of “great persecution from many superiors and spiritual authorities.”

In total, during his difficult and wandering life, Ivan Fedorov published twelve publications, including the first East Slavic ABC, the first complete Slavic Bible, and the first calendar. “It is not fitting for me to shorten the time of my life either by plowing or sowing seeds, because instead of a plow I master the art of hand tools, and instead of bread I must scatter spiritual seeds throughout the universe and distribute this spiritual food to everyone according to rank,” wrote the Moscow pioneer.

Continuation of the Moscow book printing business. Ivan the Terrible was persistent. Soon “after those masters John and Peter, their disciple Andronik Timofeev’s son, nicknamed Ignoramus, and his comrades became a master, and the royal command also ordered him to publish books in printed form in the reigning city of Moscow and distribute them throughout all cities and throughout Russia. And after those masters there were other masters, and from that time on the business went strong and without interruption, uninterruptedly, like a continuous rope,” says the manuscript of the early 17th century. “The legend is known about the imagination of printed books.”

In 1909, next to the Tretyakov Gate of Kitay-Gorod, a monument to Ivan Fedorov by sculptor S.M. was unveiled. Volnukhina. Moscow finally recognized the merits of the Russian pioneer printer.

From the history of Moscow book printing. How does the school year begin? Including getting to know new textbooks. Actually, school has not yet begun, and you are already looking with interest at those textbooks that will be your companions for the whole year, and sometimes even longer. And no technical innovations are yet capable of displacing books from our lives. The oldest books were handwritten, and they were created in monasteries, including Moscow ones - Chudov, Voznesensky, Spaso-Andronikov, Simonov, Trinity-Sergius... This was the case until the middle of the 16th century, when printing came to Muscovy. It is unknown who was the author of the first seven Moscow printed books that have come down to us. Therefore, historians call them anonymous; they did not contain any imprint. You may ask, if the publisher is not known, then perhaps the author is known? It is also impossible to name a specific author - all books at that time were liturgical, i.e. contained texts of the Holy Scriptures, prayers and texts once compiled by the church fathers translated from Greek. Only during the reign of the first Romanovs, in the 17th century, did books of a secular nature appear in Rus'.

The first dated book in Moscow was published in 1564. It was this event in Russia that was always celebrated as a memorable date in the history of Russian culture. The book contained readings from the Acts of the Apostles for worship and, according to Russian tradition, was briefly called “Apostle.” The name of the person from whose hands this book came out is known. He is usually called the Moscow pioneer printer. And a monument to him has long stood in the center of Moscow, on Teatralny Proezd, not far from the central Detsky Mir store. We are not naming this person yet, leaving you to try to remember him yourself.

Let us immediately note that this monument is very famous, it is one of the oldest in our city and appeared here at the beginning of the century.

So, we are talking about the deacon of the Kremlin Church of Nikola Gostunsky, Ivan Fedorov. This talented man had previously worked in Ukraine, from where he came to Moscow, already mastering a craft that was unique at that time. After all, printing had already existed in the West for a century. It is curious that the “mechanization”, in modern parlance, of book production was perceived with hostility by many. The fact is that there was a particularly reverent attitude towards the book as a carrier of the word of God, and the process of its production was thought of as close to a sacred rite. Therefore, only human hands could begin to work on it after prayers and ablutions. The soulless printing press was perceived as something unclean. Is this not the reason for the expulsion of Deacon Ivan from Moscow, which happened after several years of his successful printing experiments? On this score, historians are only speculating. Subsequently, the pioneer printer worked in Lvov, where, among other books, he published the so-called Teaching Gospel together with Peter Mstislavets. Exactly three hundred years passed, and the Imperial Moscow Archaeological Society met in January 1870 for a celebratory meeting on this occasion. Then they decided to build a monument to the first printer in Moscow. But it took almost four more decades until funds were raised and a design for the monument was developed. Its authors were the then little-known sculptor Sergei Volnukhin and the famous architect Ivan Mashkov. The opening of the monument took place on September 27, 1909.

The construction of the monument was preceded by a discussion about where exactly - in what corner of Moscow - it should stand. The special commission chose a small square on Teatralny Proezd.

This place, clearly visible from the street, is at the same time adjacent to the territory of the former Sovereign Printing House, where Ivan Fedorov worked during the time of Tsar Grozny. Unfortunately, the buildings of that old courtyard have not reached us. From the next, seventeenth century, a small building of the Corrective and Book Preservation Chamber has been preserved. It turned out to be in a courtyard built at the beginning of the 19th century. buildings of the so-called Synodal Printing House, that is, the main church printing house, which was formed instead of the old Printing House under Peter the Great. The architect specially emphasized this continuity by depicting the figures of a Lion and a Unicorn on the facade of the new building. The unicorn is a mythical animal with a snout topped with a single horn, as the name suggests. But how are these strange animals connected to the past of this area? But the fact is that they were once depicted on the seal-emblem of the old Printing House. Now the building houses the Historical and Archival Institute of the Russian State University for the Humanities.

In the 16th century Only eighteen book titles were printed in Moscow, while a circulation of several hundred copies was considered large. In the 17th century - almost half a thousand book titles. You've probably heard that in Ancient Rus' they usually learned to read from the Psalter, a book of church psalms. But there were also special primers or “alphabet books”. The first primer was printed back in 1574 by Ivan Fedorov himself. But, perhaps, the primer by Vasily Burtsev, created in the first half of the 17th century, gained the greatest fame. and subsequently became widespread.

Already during the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich, several new printing houses appeared in Moscow. There were even more of them in the 18th century. in the era of the so-called Russian Enlightenment. And in the 19th century. the book already occupied a very important place in the life of Muscovites, and not only the wealthy. Along with departmental and specialized publishing houses, such as the university and synodal publishing houses, private book publishing firms operated in the city, the names of whose founders are still spoken with respect by every educated Muscovite.

Russian printing and literature of the late XV - XVI centuries. Do you remember that in Western Europe in the middle of the 15th century. Printing began to develop. It has been precisely established that books began to be printed in Moscow ten years before the widely known “Apostle” by Ivan Fedorov. The beginning of book printing in Russia is March 1, 1564, when this legendary book was published.

The introduction of printing was of great importance for the cultural growth of Russia. It was more convenient to use a printed book and store it than a handwritten one, although the correspondence of books continued for a long time. The distribution of books opened up greater opportunities for communication of spiritual values.

For unknown reasons, Fedorov left Moscow and continued his activities in Ukraine. In Lvov he published the first Russian primer. But in Moscow the printing business did not die out. It was continued by printers Nikifor Garasiev and Andronik Timofeev Nevezha. By the end of the 70s. XVI century The main liturgical books were printed in Russia. XVI century The century gave birth to many literary works, which were often sharp and polemical in nature. And in an allegorical form, using examples of the successful activities of a certain Turkish sultan, Ivan Peresvetov, a supporter of the rise of the nobility and an opponent of the boyars - “lazy rich people”, expressed his views.

A significant work that had a long and controversial response in public thought was the work of a monk of one of the Pskov monasteries, Philotheus. Referring to the history of Rome and Constantinople, Philotheus explained their fall as a departure from the true Christian faith.

The end of the XV - XVI centuries. notable for the creation of general Russian chronicle collections. A grandiose “Facebook” (illustrated) chronicle work was prepared, designed to depict the entire history of Rus', starting with the first Kyiv princes. The artists worked hard, creating for him up to 16,000 miniatures on historical themes.

The invention of printing. There are not many events in human history comparable in scale of impact to this technically simple invention. Suffice it to say that the literature index “The Invention of Printing” includes over 10,000 titles.

Although it should be noted that there are still quite a lot of ambiguities in the history of the invention of printing. The name of the inventor is undoubtedly Johann Gutenberg (circa 1399 - 1468), and his belonging to the humanitarian culture is also undoubted. For example, among his friends was Nikolai Kuzansky. It is more difficult to establish the date of the invention of printing.

The oldest dated printed book in which the names of the printers are indicated is the Psalter, published in Mainz by Perer Schaeffer and Johann Fust (students of Gutenberg, who later betrayed the teacher) on August 14, 1457.

The famous 42-line Bible, considered by some researchers to be the first printed book, had no imprint, but an indirect date was 1456. Some other first printed editions indicate the earliest date - October 1454.

But what did Gutenberg invent? After all, printing was known before him. He invented:

• - a printing process, the components of which were: word-casting process - production of the same letters in a sufficiently large number of copies;
• - typesetting process - production of a printing form made up of individual, pre-cast letters;
• - printing process - multiple production of colorful prints obtained using a typesetting form, which was carried out on a printing press.

The clergy "overlooked" printing. Initially, it promised undoubted advantages - the identity of religious texts, which, it would seem, sharply reduced the possibility of discrepancies, errors, and thereby the emergence and development of heresies.

But the clergy “did not understand” that printing desacralizes the text and that it is much more dangerous than the errors of the old text. In addition, printing could become a source of completely different texts.

Before printing, the Reformation was only a sudden thing; printing turned it into a revolution.

With the invention of printing, the countdown to a new time and a new culture often begins.

Until the end of the 15th century. in 260 European cities, at least 1,100 printing houses were founded, which over 40 years published about 40 thousand publications (1,800 of them scientific) with a total circulation of 10-12 million copies (incunabula).

The book became accessible, knowledge received a reliable and “accurate” medium.

The invention of the printing press itself is the most important factor in the emergence of journalism. It had a huge impact on all spheres of human activity, and especially on journalism, since without a printing press it is fundamentally impossible, only the printing press makes it widespread and operational. Without these qualities, journalism as a specific form of social activity does not exist.

Humanity has been moving toward the invention of the printing press for a very long time, several millennia. The idea of ​​a printed imprint is found in the brand or mark with which cattle breeders marked their horses or cows, as well as in the personal seals of the leaders of ancient civilizations. One brand or seal could mark thousands of heads of livestock and a huge amount of goods. Archaeologists still cannot decipher the text imprinted on the so-called disk from Phaistos, which was found on the island of Crete. Signs are applied in a spiral shape to the clay disk using signet stamps. If stamps were available, many such disks could be made. In fact, this disc is the first example of printing coherent text. The next stage is printing coins. According to Herodotus, the Lydian king Gygos was the first to take this step in the 7th century. BC.

The inventors of the first printing press were the Chinese. But this machine is not far from printing coins. Its capabilities were limited and related to the specifics of Chinese writing, which numbered about 40 thousand characters, each of which denoted a separate word. The scribe, who knew no more than 3 - 5 thousand characters, could not reproduce philosophical or literary works by hand, since he did not understand everything about them. And so, to disseminate the works of Confucius, Li Bo or Bo Juyi came up with the following method: the text was copied onto a wooden board (hieroglyphs were cut out), and from the board, smeared with paint, it was transferred to a sheet of paper. In this way it was possible to reproduce one text indefinitely, but in order to print another text, it was necessary to cut out hieroglyphs on a new board.

This printing method was not known in Europe. Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press, or rather the method of printing text using movable type on his own, and his press was more advanced than the Chinese one. It combined the principle of stamping (Cretan disk) and board printing, or woodcut (China).

The idea of ​​printing arose, of course, before Gutenberg's invention. Europe was familiar with the book masterpieces of the East. Woodcut printing (printing from boards) was quite widespread in the Middle Ages. What did they print? Engravings with religious subjects (the text was written in by hand) and playing cards brought by the crusaders from the East and which became very widespread in medieval Europe. Somewhat later, calendars and some university textbooks began to be reproduced by woodblock printing (for example, a manual on Latin grammar by Aelius Donatus).

So, the history of European printing goes back to the 15th century. Gutenberg's invention spread very quickly. In Italy, the first printing press was installed in a Benedictine monastery on the outskirts of Rome through the efforts of German printers Konrad Swingheim and Arnold Pannarz in 1465. Soon printing appeared in Rome, then in Venice, Milan, Naples, and Florence. Italian printing quickly acquired its own identity. As a counterbalance to the Gothic font, the “Venetian” font, or “antiqua,” was developed. Venice became the capital of Italian printing. In the 16th century, there were up to 113 printing houses and more than half of all Italian publishers and booksellers lived there.

The most famous Venetian publishing house is the Alda printing house (1469), founded by Aldus Pius Manutius. It existed until 1597, that is, 100 years, publishing 952 books. Aldus Manutius revolutionized the publishing industry by introducing a new typeface and smaller publication format in 1501. Books decorated with the typographic sign of Manutius were called “aldines.” The works of ancient authors published in this printing house became an important contribution to European culture.

The first book in English was printed in 1474 in the city of Bruges. This book (“Collected Narratives of Troy”) was translated from French and published by the English pioneer William Caxton. Returning to England in 1477, he founded the first English printing press, and the first book printed in England was the Sayings of the Philosophers. In total, about 90 books were printed, including the complete edition of The Canterbury Tales by J. Chaucer, and The Morte d'Arthur by T. Malory.

As for France, at the end of the 15th century there were already 50 printing houses in France.

And printing quickly spread in Europe. In about 40 years, no less than 1,100 printing houses opened in 260 cities on the continent, producing about 40,000 publications with a total circulation of 10 - 12 million copies. These first books, published in Europe on December 31, 1500, are called incunabula. It should be noted that the spread of printing in Europe practically coincided with the beginning of the Reformation.

Presses began to be used for printing newspapers a little later, since a number of transformations and changes were needed in the life of Europe. By this time, Europeans had already learned how to make cheap paper, but the communication system was still archaic.

F. Engels in “Dialectics of Nature”, along with the invention of the machine and the production of paper, draws attention to such an important factor in the history of journalism as the origin and organization of postal service and the spread of literacy among relatively wide sections of the population. The Middle Ages limited the spiritual life of man to religion. The black shadow of the Inquisition closed the truth before the human mind; the vast majority of Europeans were illiterate and dark. The Inquisition declared knowledge a grave sin. Overcoming the Middle Ages was also an overcoming of ignorance, the awakening of the human mind. Along with the first machines, trading firms and books, a thirst for knowledge developed. Not only monks, but also merchants and even some ordinary townspeople learned to read and write. The intelligentsia was born as a single, socially significant stratum of society, which means that in the Middle Ages the spiritual and political life of society began to be determined by the book. It was not accessible to everyone, but nevertheless played a huge role in the dissemination of knowledge.

In Russia, book printing began in the middle of the 16th century, while in Europe it was established already in the 40-50s of the 15th century. The creator of the printing press is considered to be the son of a wealthy citizen from the city of Mainz (Germany), Johann Gutenberg (Gensfleisch). He invented the printing press, which was based on the design of the press used in winemaking and paper production. In addition, one of his main inventions was a convenient and practical device for casting type, i.e. letters

In Europe, printing houses appeared mainly as a result of private initiative, and their output depended on the personal tastes of printers and publishers. In the Moscow state, book printing was a government event. There could be no talk of free printing of books, especially those commissioned by private individuals.

The appearance of the printing press in Russia is associated with the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, with the strengthening of centralized power. At the sovereign's court in the Kremlin in 1553, the first Russian books began to be published - hopeless or anonymous publications, as they are commonly called. They do not indicate the year of publication, place of publication, and also do not indicate the names of the masters. The printing house, from which seven well-known hopeless publications came out, was given the name “Anonymous”. At the same time, Ivan the Terrible, with the blessing of Metropolitan Macarius, began construction of the Printing Yard on Nikolskaya Street in Kitai-Gorod, which was completed in 1563. On two printing presses, the clerk of the Church of St. Nicholas Gostunsky, in the Kremlin, the master of printing Ivan Fedorov and his friend and comrade-in-arms Peter Mstislavets in 1564 published the first Russian, accurately dated book “Acts and Epistles of the Apostles” or “Apostle”, as it is more often called called.

After a fire in the printing house, the craftsmen leave Moscow. Their students and followers continued the work begun by the first printers. In Moscow and Alexandrova Sloboda, Ivan Fedorov’s student Andronik Timofeev Nevezha (Psalter of 1577) published his editions. Books were also published in Kazan (“Service for the Appearance of the Kazan Icon”).

The 17th century can be called golden in the history of Moscow book printing, since during this period more publications were published at the Printing Yard than in the printing houses of all Europe combined. Separate workshops are appearing where highly specialized specialists work. The number of camps increases (from two to twelve). Documents from the Printing House of 1624 indicate the existence of a special “model” mill, which served as a model for the manufacture of new mills, and stood “covered with red leather” in the chamber where the “official people” sat.

From the very beginning, printing tried to imitate handwritten books, reproducing them by mechanical means. Instead of the miniatures that decorated manuscripts, the printed book contained woodcuts (engravings from a wooden board). Engravings from copper plates began to be widely used in Russia only at the end of the 17th century. In 1679, Simeon of Polotsk, a famous educator of the 17th century, founded the Upper Printing House in Moscow, where he published 6 books. Four of them are illustrated with copper engravings. The drawing in them was made by Simon Ushakov, and cut on copper by the engraver of the Armory Chamber A. Trukhmensky.

During the reign of Peter I, a radical restructuring of the entire book business was carried out, the purpose of which was the creation of secular book publishing. At the direction of Peter I, the Cyrillic font in secular publications was replaced by a civil font. The first book printed in the new font was “Geometry Slavonic Land Measurement” from 1708. During the reign of Peter I, printing houses were created in St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg (1710), Alexander Nevskaya (1720), Senate (1721). For these printing houses, both printing mills and mills for engraving from a copper board were built. In addition, Peter I created a traveling printing house, for which a traveling camp was built in 1711. After the death of Peter, this press was located within the walls of the Moscow Synodal Printing House until 1934. Currently it is kept in the State Historical Museum.

The exhibition features about 75 exhibits from the collections of the State Historical Museum, telling about the origin and development of book printing in Russia. Among them are such unique monuments as the Litsey Chronicle Code, a 16th-century manuscript written by order of Ivan the Terrible; the first Russian books published by the “Anonymous” printing house; the only tray copy of the First Printed Apostle of 1564 by Ivan Fedorov and Peter Mstislavets that has survived to this day, which laid the foundation for publishing traditions that continue in modern book printing. The exhibited publications of the 17th century give an idea of ​​the innovations and development of book art: the first illustrated Gospel of 1606 by Anisim Radishevsky; Vasily Burtsov's primer of 1634 and its reissue, where an engraving of a secular nature appears for the first time and a title page is introduced; handwritten Primer by Karion Istomin, written by order of Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna for the nieces of Peter I; examples of secular book publishing created during the reign of the reformer tsar.

Visitors will see a “model” printing press - the earliest of those that have survived to this day, a press from the traveling printing house of Peter I, as well as engravings depicting the Moscow Printing House and the Synodal Printing House, materials for binding, wooden carved boards for making engravings, and the work of master engravers Armory Chamber.

Handwritten books in the 16th century. remained of great value, although their number increased. Richly decorated with miniatures and enclosed in expensive frames, the books were very expensive. There is a known case when several boyars jointly made a contribution to the monastery - one book.

In the 16th century People rarely wrote on parchment; paper became the main material for writing. It was brought from Europe; attempts to create paper production in Russia were unsuccessful.

In the mid-50s. XVI century On the initiative of Ivan IV, the first printing house was created in Moscow. The books printed in it do not have any imprint or information about the publisher. Therefore, this first printing house is called anonymous.

The most important stage in the development of Slavic writing and culture was the beginning of printing. Several monographs presented at the exhibition tell about Ivan Fedorov and the beginning of book printing. In particular, this is “Journey to the Origins of Russian Printing” by E.L. Nemirovsky.

The emergence of book printing in the Moscow state coincided with the era of Ivan the Terrible. This was the time of consolidation of statehood and the final establishment of a monarchical centralized state.

First of all, Grozny solved the political problems of Rus' in the East. In 1552 he conquered the Kazan kingdom, and a little later Astrakhan. Vast expanses inhabited by non-Orthodox peoples came under the rule of the Moscow Tsar. Their organic inclusion in the state required Christian enlightenment, and soon the Kazan diocese appeared, which required liturgical books. It would seem that the problem could be solved by traditional handwritten production, but the printing press had already been invented in Europe.

Books of Kirill's press - Polish, Belarusian, Yugoslavian - became famous in Rus'. Information about the work of European printers was also known to Muscovites. The learned theologian, publicist and translator Maxim the Greek introduced the Russians to the activities of Aldus Manutius. The legends about the Venetian master publishers, apparently, so aroused the desire of the Moscow Tsar to be no worse than the “Fryags” that information about this was included in the afterword of the “Apostle” in 1564. The Tsar strove to look no worse than foreigners (Grozny was the first to be crowned king, the first of Russian tsars began to openly present themselves as the universal tsar - the heir of Rome and Byzantium) and demanded that educational work be carried out. Metropolitan Macarius, continuing the tradition of the Novgorod rulers and Moscow metropolitans, expressed the educational aspirations of the 15th - 16th centuries, which resulted in an extensive program - the ideological basis of the reforms of the era of Ivan the Terrible, which transformed Rus' from a Grand Duchy into a Kingdom (monarchy).

In line with these reforms, obviously, was the introduction of printing - a decisive means in correcting church life, eliminating heresies and self-will in the interpretation of Sacred texts - an inevitable and typical consequence of church unrest during the creation of a new state. One of the reasons for heresies, as noted at the Stoglavy Council, is the malfunction of the texts. The reason for the malfunction was not so much the mistakes of the scribes, but the penetration of different texts and different traditions at different times. The church authorities were entrusted with tracking them, but in practice, given the predominance of the “cell” method of copying books, the task turned out to be impossible and could only be solved with a clear predominance of verified books, their simultaneous mass distribution, which made copying books locally unnecessary. This, obviously, was the advantage of book printing, approved by Metropolitan Macarius and approved by his entourage.

The introduction of book printing became possible thanks to the level of knowledge of the Russian people and technical skills that made it possible to quickly create a “hitherto unknown” printing press.

One of the most mysterious pages in the history of domestic book printing is the question of the Anonymous Printing House and dead-end publications, which received this name due to the lack of imprint information in them.

Thus, the activity of a special printing house in Moscow in the 1550s - early 1560s is obvious. Judging by the fact that the publications do not indicate the royal order to print them, researchers assume the private nature of their production. The subject matter of the books, for example, the publication of the Four Gospels, is interpreted by some authors as evidence that the Anonymous Printing House belongs to circles close to non-covetous people. Some studies show a connection between the Anonymous Printing House and the Chosen Rada of Ivan IV - Adashev, priest Sylvester (a wonderful writer, author of Domostroy, confessor of the Tsar).

The question about the employees of the Anonymous Printing House is also difficult. In a letter from Ivan the Terrible to Novgorod, Marusha Nefediev is called “master of printing,” and another master is Vasyuk Nikiforov. A study of typographic printing techniques, as well as indirect evidence from later sources, speaks of the work of Ivan Fedorov and Peter Mstislavets in the Anonymous Printing House.

The value of anonymous publications is assessed differently by scientists. Some see them as trial editions before the release of the Apostle in 1564, others as products of a private printing house. Be that as it may, hopeless publications prepared the appearance of “The Apostle” - a masterpiece of printing art, published in 1564 by Ivan Fedorov in Moscow.

Biographical information about Ivan Fedorov is quite scarce. The date of his birth is hypothetically established around 1510, but his origin remains completely unclear. Based on records in the metrics of the University of Krakow, it is believed that he was born either in Southern Poland (Piontkowice), or in Belarus (Petkowice) - Vilna, Minsk or Novogrudok districts, or in Moscow, but all these assumptions are equally hypotheses that need proof .

It can be considered accepted in science that Ivan Fedorov studied at the University of Krakow in 1529-1532, where he received a bachelor's degree. This was the heyday of the university. Here Ivan Fedorov, obviously, became acquainted with the teachings of humanists, ancient literature, and studied the Greek language.

There is no information about the activities of Ivan Fedorov in the late 1530s - 1540s. There are suggestions that at this time he was surrounded by Metropolitan Macarius and came with him to Moscow. It is believed that it was not without his participation that Ivan Fedorov took the modest position of deacon in the Kremlin Church of St. Nicholas Gostunsky. In the early 1550s, this temple and its clergy occupied a prominent place in the Moscow hierarchy. The archpriest of the temple Amos participated in exposing the heresy of Matvey Bashkin, and in 1553 he baptized in the presence of the Moscow Tsar with the entire “cathedral, archimandrites, abbots, archpriests, and many boyars” of the Kazan Tsar Ediger Magmet, who received the name Simeon. In 1555, the archpriest also participated in the decree of Kazan Archbishop Guria.

Metropolitan Macarius had a long-standing relationship with the temple; he served in it during his visits to Moscow, while still the ruler of Novgorod. The connection between Metropolitan Macarius and his activities within the educational program of the Church of St. Nicholas of Gostun are confirmed by the words of Ivan Fedorov himself about Macarius’s direct approval of the establishment of a printing house in Moscow and his indication of one of the reasons for its creation - the need for Christian enlightenment of the Kazan kingdom. Sources have preserved mention of Ivan Fedorov’s service as a deacon in the Church of St. Nicholas of Gostunsky in 1563, and from that time on, the life of Ivan Fedorov and the history of book printing in Rus' are inextricably linked.

Even more fragmentary information has been preserved about another Russian pioneer printer, Ivan Fedorov’s assistant, Pyotr Timofeev Mstislavets. The first documentary news about him dates back to the time of his collaboration with Ivan Fedorov in Moscow on “The Apostle” in 1564. It is believed that he was born in the Belarusian city of Mstislavl. The master worked with Ivan Fedorov in Moscow and then in Lithuania (Zabludovo). After 1569, he moved to Vilna, where he founded a printing house with funds from the Mamonich merchants. The time and place of the end of Peter Timofeev’s life are unknown, but judging by the fact that his typographical materials are found in Ostrog publications of the late 16th - early 17th centuries, researchers have put forward a hypothesis about his last works in Ostrog.

On March 1, 1564, by the order of Ivan Vasilyevich IV and the blessing of Metropolitan Macarius of All Rus', the first Russian precisely dated book “The Apostle” was published, and Ivan Fedorov and Peter Mstislavets went down in history as the first Russian printers. Researchers have found that although Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets used typesetting, layout, and printing techniques similar to anonymous publications, they worked in an independent printing house. Obviously, the establishment of a new “drukarnya” required a long time. From the afterword to the “Apostle” it is known that work on it was carried out for a year from April 19, 1563 to March 1, 1564. To print the “Apostle” it was necessary to cast fonts and make equipment. The preparation of the text of the Apostle also took a long time. It was edited with the participation of Metropolitan Macarius.

Judging by the fact that the “Apostle” contains the names of the Tsar and the Metropolitan as the direct customers of the book, the printing house of Ivan Fedorov could be of a state nature, and therefore the issue of its organization had to be decided directly by the Tsar. According to scientists, the decision was made in 1562, since until 1561 Sylvester’s workshop worked successfully and there was no need for a printing house, and in May 1562 the tsar left Moscow on military campaigns. Thus, the preparation of the “Apostle” of 1564 took several years, including the arrangement of the printing house, which was located in Moscow in chambers on Nikolskaya Street.

The choice of "Apostle" for the first edition of the state printing house, despite the fact that this book was not the first necessity for a newly consecrated church (consecration and service in the temple are impossible without the Altar Gospel), is justified by the fact that "Apostle" in Ancient Rus' was used for teaching clergy. It contains the first examples of the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures by the disciples of Christ, and a little earlier the Moscow Councils came out with a condemnation of heresies, the cause of which was said to be an incorrect interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. In this regard, the publication of "The Apostle" once again shows its state-national significance in the fight against "turmoil" through church education. The first dated book, printed by Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets, became the model for subsequent editions.

In 1565 in Moscow, Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets published the Book of Hours (in two editions), a liturgical book in nature, but, like the “Apostle” in Ancient Rus', it served for teaching, but not the clergy, but only children who were acquiring literacy.

The Book of Hours in its printing is inferior to the Apostle, which can be explained not only by the haste of the printers, but also by the purpose of the book and its use. “The Apostle” is decorated with a frontispiece engraving depicting the Apostle and Evangelist Luke, according to the legend of the author of the Acts of the Apostles. He is depicted sitting on a low bench in a cloak-himatium, in front of a music stand, his figure is enclosed in a decorative frame, which, according to researchers, repeats the engraving of the German master Ergard Schön (c. 1491 - 1542), placed in the Bibles of 1524 and 1540, but significantly revised Russian master. The ornamentation of Fedorov’s editions is distinguished by its elegance and in many ways goes back to the examples of ornamental decorations in the manuscripts and engravings of Theodosius Isograph, but Fedorov, for example, in the Book of Hours has headpieces that are not found in the manuscripts, samples of which he may have taken from Poland.

Researchers have proven the symbolic meaning of ornamental decorations in the books of Ivan Fedorov, where text and ornament are inseparable and interpret each other.

After the publication of the Book of Hours, the activities of Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets in Moscow soon ceased, and they left the Moscow state. The departure of the first printers (along with fonts and equipment) from Moscow, of course, was not secret, but it is impossible to clearly name its reasons. They talked about persecution by the authorities, about the special sending of Ivan Fedorov to Lithuania at the request of Hetman G.A. Khodkevich to maintain Orthodoxy. Ivan Fedorov himself, in the afterword to the Lvov “Apostle” (1574), writes about people who “conceive many heresies for the sake of envy,” the essence of which, according to Fedorov, was an ignorant interpretation of their work, possibly editing the text of the “Apostle.” But this could only be a reason to leave. It is believed that Ivan Fedorov was one of the people of a certain political and religious direction and during the period of changes in the autocrat’s internal policy (in 1565 Ivan the Terrible announced the abandonment of the kingdom, the oprichnina was soon introduced) he considered it good to leave Moscow. However, this sound reasoning cannot be finally accepted, because, leaving the capital, the pioneer printer takes with him equipment, that is, state property, which was impossible to do without the knowledge of the authorities. As we see, the reasons for the departure of Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets from Moscow still remain a mystery.

Book printing in Moscow developed even after Ivan Fedorov. In the capital, the pioneer printer left his students Nikifor Tarasiev and Andronik Timofeev Nevezha. In 1567 - 1568 they revived the Moscow printing house, from which in 1568 the first post-Fedorov publication, the Psalter, came out. In 1571, a fire destroyed the Printing House. In 1577, on behalf of Ivan the Terrible, a printing house was organized in Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, where the Psalter was also published. After a long break, in 1589 the Printing House began working again in Moscow, where Andronik Nevezha published the Lenten Triodion. In total, in the 16th century, 19 publications were published on the territory of the Moscow State, the average circulation of which was 1000 - 1200 copies. The main result of the work of the masters of the 16th century was the organization of a large European-type printing house on a state basis, the Moscow Printing House, which until 1602 was headed by the master Andronik Nevezha.

Along with Ivan Fedorov, among the first Russian printers one should also name Marusha Nefedyev, Nevezha Timofeev, Andronik Nevezha and his son Ivan, Anisim Radishevsky, Anikita Fofanov, Kondrat Ivanov. Many of them were both engravers and type foundries.

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Give an idea of ​​the spread of literacy and education in Kievan Rus.

• Educational: to bring to the understanding of students that the concept of “culture” is associated with the activities of people in the material and spiritual fields; note that the invention of the Slavic alphabet was a necessary condition for the spread of literacy in Rus'; show what Yaroslav the Wise did to spread literacy.
• Correctional and developmental: continue to work on developing the ability to give complete answers to posed questions, skills in working with a history notebook; learn to listen to excerpts from fiction.
• Educational: to evoke a feeling of respect for working people; develop in students a sense of love for their native language and culture.

Basic knowledge

• Cyril and Methodius are the creators of Slavic writing;
• Slavic alphabet, bookmaking, schools, handwritten books.

Basic terms and concepts

• Scribes, charter, Bible, library, parchment, wrote.

Equipment and materials

• Presentation, cards, vocabulary words, object writing (a bag of earth, an arrow, a leather trail), birch bark, cards with letters, the Bible.

Lesson type

• Communication of new knowledge

During the classes

I. Organizational moment

1. Motivational beginning of the lesson

Guys, today we have an unusual lesson. Today we will travel back to ancient times and travel through the labyrinths of history. We will find out from what sources modern people can learn about events that occurred in the history of Rus' a long time ago.

(Slide 1) Let's open the door to the past

• This school year we began to study a new science for you, what kind of science is it? (Slide 2)

(Story)

• Let's remember what history studies?

(History is a science that studies the past.)

• The history of which state are we studying?

(History of Russia)

• Why should you study and know the history of your state?

(Children's answers)

• How do historians learn about events that happened a long time ago?

( They are helped by various documents and things that have survived to this day)

• What science helps us uncover the secrets of the earth? (Slide 3)

(Archeology)

It is archaeologists who find what our land hides from us. These are various things, documents that have survived to this day, and help us learn more about long-past events. Various documents play a huge role in the study of history. But the documents did not appear immediately.

• How did people transmit messages to each other before writing arose?

(Slide 4)

(Children's answers)

II. Updating basic knowledge, communicating the topic and goals of the lesson.

Let's open the next door to the past of the Slavs (Slide 5)

1. Introduction to the topic

We will determine the topic of our lesson after analyzing two situations.

Situation one:

In ancient times, the composition of herbal mixtures from which medicinal decoctions were prepared was passed down from mouth to mouth. But it happened that a medicinal decoction could become poison and bring not recovery, but death to the patient.

• Guess why such cases could occur.
• Think of a way to avoid this situation.

(Write down the composition of the collection.)

Now let's look at the second one situation. (Slide 6)

One day the young prince received from his father through a foreign merchant subject letter: an arrow, a bag of earth and a footprint cut from leather.

The son understood his father’s message as follows: “Soon we must wait for my father to visit, since his trace has already disappeared on his native land, and he is rushing towards me like an arrow.”

The son waited for a long time for his father, and the father, meanwhile, waited for his son. After all, with his message the old prince asked for help: “Help us, the enemies are trampling our native land, and there are so many of their arrows that they have eclipsed the sun.” Showing items

Do you think it was convenient, perfect, or subject letter?

• Why? Explain your answer.

2. Communicating the topic and objectives of the lesson

Today in the lesson we will continue to study the history of Ancient Rus' and get acquainted with the spread of literacy and education in Kievan Rus, we will find out what Yaroslav the Wise did to educate the Russian people.

The topic of our lesson is Education and literacy in Rus'. (Slide 7)

(Write down the date and topic of the lesson in a notebook)

III. Learning new material

(Slide 8) We approached the next door, which we met in the labyrinth of history.

3. Explanatory conversation.

We do not know the exact date of the emergence of Slavic writing. But there is reason to believe that it existed in the 9th century, i.e. it originated even before the adoption of Christianity in Rus' .

In what year did Christianity penetrate into Rus'? Determine the century.

(988, X century)

• Under which prince did the baptism of Rus' begin?

(Under Prince Vladimir the Saint)

• Who taught the Slavs to read and write? ? (Slide 9)

(Cyril and Methodius)

In the 60s In the 9th century, two brothers from the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki - Cyril and Methodius - created the Slavic alphabet, which was based on the Greek alphabet. The Slavs had a legend about the creation of the Slavic alphabet in the 5th century by the Christian preacher Jerome; this is evidenced by a clay vessel discovered by archaeologists near Smolensk.

(Slide 10) It says GORUSHNA, those. vessel for spices.

(Slide 11) There is also information that letters in Rus' in ancient times were carved on wooden tablets and called CUTS.

The writing created by Cyril and Methodius in the second half of the 9th century penetrated into Rus' in the 10th century.

(Slide 12) There are two versions of the Slavic alphabet: Cyrillic and Glagolitic. Let's get acquainted with some letters of one of them.

(Slide 13) Note card

(Slide 14) These plates are arranged as follows

So, for example, the letter indicated the sounding word [baba].

• Find the letter a in this word and show it. (Show the desired card)

Now the name of this letter is “a”, but in the 9th century it was called “az”.

• Find the letter b in this word and show it.

Now the name of this letter is “be”, but in the 9th century it was called “buki”

• Arrange the named letters in alphabetical order and name them.

(az, beeches) (Slide 15)

Explain why the alphabet in Ancient Rus' was called the alphabet?

(By the names of the first letters.)

This alphabet was called Glagolitic - the word verb is translated as word, speech.

4. Task on the slide

(Slide 16) Insert the missing word into the sentence, having previously analyzed the information given in brackets.

With the help of the Glagolitic alphabet it was possible... oral speech. (Special letter icons were needed to record speech.) (Using the Glagolitic alphabet it was possible to record oral speech.)

Currently, you and I are using a different version of the Slavic alphabet. It is called Cyrillic. He's familiar to you (Slide 17)

Who created the Slavic alphabet?

(Cyril and Methodius)

Conclusion: The creation of the alphabet by Cyril and Methodius is the most important historical event that created favorable conditions for the development of the culture of the people.

5. Work in notebooks (Slide 18)

Cyril and Methodius are the creators of Slavic writing.

(Write in notebook)

Before the adoption of Christianity, there were few people who could write and read in Rus', but since 988. Literacy began to spread: the clergy were literate, the princes and many boyars and townspeople learned to write.

(Slide 19) In the 11th century, Yaroslav the Wise ordered the creation of schools at churches and monasteries. In schools, priests taught children and adults.

(Slide 20) They taught us to write, count and read. Under Yaroslav the Wise, many residents of the country became literate. Having learned to write, people began to write down contracts and important documents, write letters and notes to each other, and keep business papers. (Slide 21)

(Slide 22) The potters’ products on which they put their signature have survived to this day.

(Slide 23) Often, townspeople left inscriptions on the walls of churches, which have also survived to this day.

• You might be interested in knowing what and with what they wrote in Ancient Rus'?

To do this we will open the next door (Slide 24)

(Showing birch bark) In ancient times in Rus', the cheapest and most common material for writing was birch bark. It was removed from the trunk in an even strip, boiled in salt water and placed under a press. Texts were scratched out on the damp inner side of the bark using a writing tool (a sharp bone or metal stick). (Slide 25)

Vocabulary work: wrote

Scribes are found in many cities of our country, although birch bark scrolls are rare. After all, birch bark is a very fragile material. The scrolls were called birch bark letters. (Slide 26)

More than 500 birch bark letters have survived to this day, but, of course, there were many more. Their content is varied - these are notes about household affairs, letters from family members to each other, and even children's scribbles and drawings.

The birch bark letters of the boy Onfim are known. (Slide 27) The boy learned to read and write on them, and when he was tired he amused himself with drawing. On the document - Onfim himself, riding a horse and with a sword in his right hand, strikes the enemy with a spear. However, all birch bark letters are very interesting for scientists. They brought to us the spoken language of the ancient Slavs, as if they transported us into the past. (Slide 28)

Most of the ancient books that have survived to this day were written on parchment, which was made from calfskin. To make parchment, the skin was carefully processed: soaked, rubbed with chalk to absorb fat, smoothed with pumice, and dried. (Slide 29)

(Slide 30) Parchment was a very expensive material for a book; a whole herd was required. Because of the high cost of parchment, the text that was once written was often scraped out or washed away, and then a new one was written down. They wrote on parchment with a pen.

Vocabulary work: parchment

• What and with what did they write in Ancient Rus'?

(Children's answers)

6. Work on the card (Slide 31)

In Rus' they wrote in: and:, using for this: and:.

(Slide 32) They began to rewrite and translate books in Rus' under Vladimir the Saint, and this work was continued by his son Yaroslav the Wise

(Slide 33) In the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, built by his will in 1037.

(Slide 34) We opened a workshop for creating books and a book depository with it.

Monks began to work there - scribes who not only translated books from Greek into Slavic, but also rewrote them.

7. Pimen’s monologue from the opera by M.P. Mussorgsky "Boris Godunov".

Close your eyes and imagine a narrow monastery cell. A monk sits within four blank walls. There is a candle in front of him. (Slide 35)

Listen to the recording and determine what he is doing at this moment?

(Writes a book.)

• How did you determine this?

(The creaking of a pen can be heard.)

Indeed, in the recording one can hear the scratch of a pen on parchment paper.

(Slide 36) Census takers We lined a sheet of parchment with a special device to get an even line. The scribes' handwriting was large and clear, such handwriting is called charter. Each letter stood separately from one another, the text was written in a continuous line, and there was no division into words and phrases yet. The first letter on each page was necessarily decorated with patterns and written in red paint. (Slide 37)

Ink was made from ink nuts, cherry glue and other substances. The monks-scribes wrote mainly with goose quills, subjecting them to special treatment: they stuck them into sand or ash for a short time, and then scraped off what was unnecessary and sharpened them sharply.

(Slide 38) And how beautiful the finished book looked! Its pages are decorated with miniatures, its binding is made of thin wooden boards covered with leather, the binding has gold clasps, and there are metal corners on the corners so that the leather does not wear off. It is not surprising that our ancestors looked at the book as a treasure.

Only 493 books from the 11th-13th centuries have survived to this day.

8. Working with the textbook

Read the first paragraph on page 163 and answer the question

• What books did the scribes copy? (Slide 39)

(Bible, church books)

The Bible is the main book of all Christians. (Bible display, book)

• What books were considered handwritten?

(Books that were copied by hand)

• Who rewrote the books?

(Monks are scribes)

• Why are handwritten books considered the greatest value?

(Children's answers)

Vocabulary work: scribe, charter, Bible

(Slide 40) In the old days, the lives of famous people were often described. These records were called Lives. The Lives of many holy people, warriors, and princes have survived to this day: the Collection of Svyatoslav, the Ostromir Gospel, the Life of Fyodor of Pechersk, the Mstislav Gospel.

The library of Yaroslav the Wise became the first Russian library. Books from it were kept at the main temple of Kyiv - St. Sophia Cathedral and could be used by all residents

Vocabulary word: library

• Where were the books kept?

(In the library of St. Sophia Cathedral)

(Slide 43, 44) To strengthen the Orthodox faith and spread enlightenment in Rus', Yaroslav the Wise began to build new churches and monasteries. He invited artists and builders from Byzantium. They taught Russian craftsmen to build churches, paint icons and frescoes.

9. Working with the textbook

Read the last paragraph on page 163

• What did Yaroslav the Wise do to educate people?

(Opened schools, created books, built temples, monasteries)

IV. Consolidation

Let's open the last door of the distant past. (Slide 45)

1. Frontal conversation

• What events accelerated the creation of Slavic writing?

(The emergence of Christianity in Rus')

• What were the names of the first teachers of the Slavs? (Slide 46)

(Cyril and Methodius)

And our dear Rus' will glorify
Holy Apostles of the Slavs,
And, with the sweet sound of their names
Announcing your prayers,
From century to century, from generation to generation
She honors their memory! D. S. Likhachev

• What role did Yaroslav the Wise play for the development of literacy and education in Rus'?

(Slide 47)

(Under Yaroslav the Wise, literacy and Christian education spread in Rus')

2. Game "Third Man" (Slide 48)

• Cyril - Methodius - Vladimir.
• Copyist - scribe - artist.
• Birch bark - paper - parchment.
• Cyrillic - Glagolitic - hieroglyphics.

3. Work with cards

Connect concepts with their definitions

4. Task (Slide 49)

What happens if: “take a little oak, alder, and ash bark, boil them in water, and then throw in a piece of iron, add a ladle of sour cabbage soup and a mug of honey kvass” (Ink)

5. Mysterious letter (Slide 50)

In this mysterious letter, all the letters in the words were scattered and mixed up.

GAN TO I, KU B VA, N U CHECKS, BU A KZA, OLSA P And (Book, letter, students, alphabet, wrote)

(The underlined letter is the beginning of the word)

• What topic did we learn about in class today?

(Education and literacy in Rus')

• What new did you learn in class today?

(Children's answers)

VI. Grading

(Slide 51) We successfully walked through the labyrinths of history, opened all the doors and found a casket of knowledge.

Bibliography.

1. Gerasimova V.A. Class hours and conversations about Russian history: grades 7-11. - M.: TC Sfera, 2004. - 64 p.

2. Solovyova T.A., Rogaleva E.I. Historical topics of the course "The World around us": Activity-based developmental approach. 4th grade. - M.: VAKO, 2006. - 320 p. - (Teacher's Workshop).

3. Puzanov B.P., Borodina O.I., Sekovets L.S., Redkina N.M. History of Russia: Textbook. For 7th grade. special (correctional) educational institutions of the VIII type. - M Humanit. Ed. VLADOS Center, 2006. - 312 pp.: ill.

4. Puzanov B.P., Borodina O.I., Sekovets L.S., Redkina N.M. History lessons in the 7th grade of a special (correctional) general education school of the VIII type: textbook. - method. manual / Puzanov B.P., Borodina O.I., Sekovets L.S., Redkina N.M. - M.: Humanitarian. ed. VLADOS center, 2004. - 215 p. - (Correctional pedagogy)

The basis of many famous European cultures is the oldest written monuments. Therefore the question about the appearance of the first written sources of Ancient Rus' directly related to the problem of the emergence of writing among the Eastern Slavs. Until now, this problem remains controversial, and currently there are two main points of view on this matter.

a) Some historians and philologists (F. Buslaev, A. Vostokov, A. Shakhmatov, R. Skrynnikov) argued that Old Russian writing arose in parallel with the process of the official Baptism of Rus', when the first literary and chronicle monuments of Ancient Rus' were created, in particular “Memory and Praise” by Jacob Mnich, “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Presbyter Hilarion and others.

b) Other authors (V. Istrin, D. Likhachev, A. Rogov, P. Chernykh) pointed out the fact that historians currently have at their disposal indisputable evidence of the existence of East Slavic writing long before the Baptism of Rus'. The first indication of this circumstance is contained in the famous work of Chernorizets Khrabra “On Writings” (IX-X centuries), who argued that the ancient Slavs had original “traits” and “cuts”. Another indication of the existence of Russian pre-Christian writing is contained in the treatise “On Russian Writings” and in the “Pannonian Life of Cyril-Constantine,” which date back to the first half of the 10th century. Finally, the undoubted existence of writing before the Baptism of Rus' is also evidenced by the texts of peace treaties concluded by Oleg and Igor with the Byzantine emperors in the first half of the 10th century. Many discoveries of Soviet archaeologists (B. Rybakov, D. Avdusin), in particular, copper plaques of the Chernigov and Tver military mounds and amphoras of the famous Gnezdovo burial ground, which date back to the first half of the 10th century, also prove that writing existed among the Eastern Slavs long before Epiphany Rus'.

We must pay special attention to the point of view of Professor A.G. Kuzmin, who quite rightly wrote that the dispute about the time of the emergence of “Russian writing” largely stemmed from the fact that most specialists knew only Kievan Rus, while in reality there were other Rus states, in particular, the Russian Kaganate in the Don region, Rugilands in Pannonia and the Baltic States, etc.

Question about the time of creation of a full-fledged ancient Slavic alphabet still causes a lot of controversy among historians and linguists. As a rule, its appearance is traditionally associated with the names of the famous “Thessalonica brothers” Cyril-Constantine (827-869) and Methodius (815-885), who in the 850-860s. preached Christian doctrine in Khazaria, Bulgaria, Moravia and Crimea. Most likely, it was then that these great Christian missionaries created two famous alphabets - Glagolitic and Cyrillic, and also translated several liturgical books into Slavic.

The question of the time of appearance of these two alphabets and their relationship with each other is still the subject of heated scientific debate. Most of the Slavic manuscripts of that time were written in both Glagolitic and Cyrillic, so determining which of these alphabets appeared first is quite problematic. In the historical literature, many different hypotheses about the Slavic alphabet have been expressed. But the essence of all these disputes and discussions is which of these alphabets was created by Cyril.

1) Some authors (P. Lavrov, D. Likhachev) are convinced that the Glagolitic alphabet preceded the appearance of the Cyrillic alphabet, and initially it was in this alphabet, which was created by Kirill, that the first liturgical books were written for the Slavic population of Moravia and Pannonia. The sharp difference between the Glagolitic alphabet and the Greek statutory script forced the spelling of many letters to change, and after several decades a new alphabet emerged, called the Cyrillic alphabet, which displaced the Glagolitic alphabet from widespread use.

2) Other authors (S. Bernstein) believe that the Cyrillic alphabet appeared much earlier, which was based on the Byzantine statutory liturgical letter. However, the sharp protest of the German clergy of Moravia and Pannonia against the Slavic-Greek letter forced a change in the nature of the writing of letters, as a result of which the Glagolitic alphabet appeared. Subsequently, at the end of the 9th century, when Byzantine influence in Bulgaria significantly increased and Slavic writing began to flourish, the need for the Glagolitic alphabet disappeared, and it, giving way to the lighter and more elegant Cyrillic alphabet, turned into cryptography, which was used in Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Croatia until the middle of the 18th century.

Both of these hypotheses are based on the fundamental premise that both the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabet arose under the direct influence of the Byzantine “statutory letter”, directly borrowing the styles of many of their letters from this letter. However, a number of authors (A. Kuzmin, A. Muravyov) argue that the Glagolitic alphabet arose as a result of the development of an unknown cuneiform script, which was widespread among the Danube, Carpathian, Black Sea and Moravian Rus. Later, it was on the basis of this letter that Kirill created his famous Cyrillic alphabet, which became a kind of synthesis of the Russian and Slavic languages. At the same time, the more complex Glagolitic alphabet faded into the background, but was preserved for a long time in the form of secret writing on the borders of the Slavic Orthodox world with the Catholic world, that is, in Western Bulgaria, Croatia and Norica.

Until the middle of the 14th century. all ancient Russian handwritten works were written on parchment, which in Rus' was called leather, veal or haratya. Parchment was a beautifully processed sheep or calf skin, the production of which originated in the Asia Minor city of Pergamon, hence the name of this material for handwritten writing. The technique for producing parchment was as follows: first, the skin of the animal was sprinkled with ash and potash, then it was thoroughly cleaned of meat, wool and bristles, rubbed with chalk to degrease, and only then planed with a knife and smoothed with pumice. Initially, all parchment was brought from Byzantium and a number of European states, and at the beginning of the 13th century. Rus' established its own parchment production.

All ancient Russian manuscripts were written only statutory letter, which was characterized by the geometric graphics of the letters, the lack of their inclination and the lack of distance between individual words in the line. The letters, as a rule, did not extend beyond the line, and the sheet itself was lined and had even and wide margins on both sides of the sheet.

When writing ancient Russian handwritten books and official documents, dense and dense ink is usually brownish or brown in color. The preparation of this ink was based on a chemical reaction between salts, ferrous and tannin substances, since rusty iron products, tree bark and gum - a sticky plant substance - were placed in a natural acidic environment, for example, kvass or sour cabbage soup. Then this mixture was infused in a warm and dark place, and after it thickened, it was used for its intended purpose as ink. In addition to ink, when creating handwritten books they used paints(cinnabar, ocher, azure), which were used to draw headings and capital (title) letters, as well as various ornamental decorations. The main writing tools were bird feathers, usually goose feathers, which were first softened in hot sand, and then sharpened with a penknife and a special groove was made for ink.

According to the “Preliminary list of Slavic-Russian manuscripts of the XI-XIV centuries.” (1965) out of 1493 recorded handwritten books of that period, 192 priceless rarities belong to the era of Kievan Rus. Traditionally, the oldest Russian handwritten book is considered to be the famous “Ostromir Gospel” (1057), written by Deacon Gregory for the Novgorod mayor Ostromir. True, there is an opinion (A. Kuzmin, V. Yanin) that the most ancient handwritten books that have survived to this day are the Novgorod “Psalter” of the end of the 10th century. and “Putyatina Menaion”, created in the 1030s.

“The Ostromir Gospel” was a large collection of various articles of a theological, philosophical and ethical nature, intended for gospel reading by day of the week, starting with Great Easter. The manuscript of this masterpiece of ancient Russian church-philosophical literature was richly decorated with miniatures, including depictions of the three evangelists John, Mark and Luke.

The next in time of creation were the two famous “Svyatoslav’s Selections”, written by Deacon John for the Grand Duke of Kyiv Svyatoslav Yaroslavich in 1073-1076. According to a number of authors (A. Rogov), the first “Izbornik” was a translation of the Bulgarian source, and the second was an original (Russian) work. These “Izborniki” were collections (patericon) of various moralizing articles and sayings intended for reading to princely and boyar youths, in particular “Apostolic Rules”, “The Word of the same John on the Books of Faith” and “The Theologian from Words”. The first “Izbornik” of 1073, like the “Ostromir Gospel,” was richly ornamented and decorated with various miniatures, and the second “Izbornik” of 1076, on the contrary, was outwardly very strict and extremely ascetic.

From the end of the 11th century. Several more monuments of religious and ecclesiastical content have survived, in particular the “Arkhangelsk Gospel” (1092) and three “Service Menaions” created in Novgorod in 1095-1097. Later, in the first third of the 12th century. Many more literary, religious, ecclesiastical and narrative monuments were created, most of which, unfortunately, have not survived to this day. Among the surviving manuscripts of that time, one should name: 1) “Mstislav’s Gospel”, written by priest Alexa on behalf of the Novgorod prince Mstislav the Great in 1115 for the Novgorod Annunciation Church on the Settlement, and 2) The princely charter of Mstislav the Great - the most ancient narrative handwritten monument of Kievan Rus , which was given by him to the Novgorod Yuryev Monastery in 1130.

For a long time, historical science was dominated by the prejudiced belief that writing in Ancient Rus' was the lot of only church hierarchs and representatives of the highest feudal nobility. In 1951, one of the employees of the famous Novgorod archaeological expedition of Professor A.V. Artsikhovsky found the first birch bark letter, which brilliantly refuted this false belief. Currently, more than 1,100 birch bark letters have been found in Novgorod, Staraya Russa, Pskov, Ladoga, Smolensk, Vitebsk and other Russian cities, which eloquently testify to the fairly wide spread of literacy and writing among the widest strata of the townsfolk population of Ancient Rus'.

Many epigraphic monuments, i.e., inscriptions made on stones, metal, trees and other hard materials, also speak about the widespread use of writing in Ancient Rus'. Among the oldest epigraphic inscriptions is the inscription on the famous Tmutarakan stone, dated 1068, which was inscribed during the reign of the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise, Prince Gleb Svyatoslavich, in Tmutarakan (Taman). Numerous inscriptions or graffiti have also been preserved on stone crosses, wooden spindle whorls, pottery and even on the walls of a number of famous temples and churches.

All these well-known facts once again confirm that in Rus' there was “ Byshe mnozi» literate and educated people, many of whom received education both privately and within the walls of “state” schools. According to many experts on the history of Ancient Rus', at that time there were two main types of educational institutions: 1) church schools, created at the largest churches and monasteries for the training of clergy, where youths and young men were taught writing, reading, theology and chant, and 2) secular schools where, in addition to basic subjects, students were taught rhetoric, grammar and philosophy.

It is now reliably known that already under Vladimir the Saint the first men's men's school in Kyiv, and under his son Yaroslav the Wise, schools for training princely and boyar youths were opened in Novgorod, Kyiv and Chernigov. Then, in the first half of the 11th century. The first women's schools were created, in particular, at the St. Andrew and Spassky monasteries in Kyiv and Polotsk. However, it is clear that the most common form of apprenticeship during this period was still traditional home schooling.

The spread of literacy in Rus' was accompanied by the creation of the first libraries. The largest repositories of books were the St. Sophia Cathedrals in Novgorod, Kiev and Polotsk, the Kiev-Pechersk and Novgorod Yurievsky monasteries, as well as private collections of the great Kiev princes Yaroslav the Wise and his son Vsevolod, the Galician prince Yaroslav Osmomysl, princesses Euphrosyne of Polotsk and Euphrosyne of Suzdal, Archimandrite Theodo this Pechersk and Metropolitan Kliment Smolyatich.

Notes

On this topic you can read the book by philologist Istrin 1100 years of the Slavic alphabet / Istrin V.A. M.: Nauka, 1988. (Chapter 4. What alphabet was developed by Kirill (Konstantin) and where did the second Slavic alphabet come from)

Modern Russian is based on Old Church Slavonic, which, in turn, was previously used for both writing and speech. Many scrolls and paintings have survived to this day.

Culture of Ancient Rus': writing

Many scientists claim that before the ninth century there was no trace of writing. This means that during the times of Kievan Rus, writing did not exist as such.

However, this assumption is erroneous, because if you look at the history of other developed countries and states, you can see that each strong state had its own written language. Since it was also part of a number of fairly strong countries, writing was also necessary for Rus'.

Another group of scientific researchers proved that there was writing, and this conclusion was supported by a number of historical documents and facts: Brave wrote the legend “About Writings”. Also “in the Lives of Methodius and Constantine” it is mentioned that the Eastern Slavs had a written language. The records of Ibn Fadlan are also cited as evidence.

So when did writing appear in Rus'? The answer to this question is still controversial. But the main argument for society, confirming the emergence of writing in Rus', are the treaties between Russia and Byzantium, which were written in 911 and 945.

Cyril and Methodius: a huge contribution to Slavic writing

The contribution of Slavic enlighteners is invaluable. It was with the beginning of their work that they developed their own alphabet, which was much simpler in pronunciation and writing than the previous version of the language.

It is known that the enlighteners and their disciples did not preach among the East Slavic peoples, but researchers say that, perhaps, Methodius and Cyril set such a goal for themselves. Sharing your views would not only allow you to expand your range of interests, but would also simplify the introduction of a simplified language into East Slavic culture.

In the tenth century, books and lives of great enlighteners came to the territory of Rus', where they began to enjoy real success. It is to this moment that researchers attribute the emergence of writing in Rus', the Slavic alphabet.

Rus' since the appearance of its language alphabet

Despite all these facts, some researchers are trying to prove that the alphabet of the enlighteners appeared during the times of Kievan Rus, that is, even before baptism, when Rus' was a pagan land. Despite the fact that most historical documents are written in Cyrillic, there are papers that contain information written in Glagolitic. Researchers say that, probably, the Glagolitic alphabet was also used in Ancient Rus' precisely in the period of the ninth-tenth centuries - before Russia adopted Christianity.

More recently, this assumption has been proven. Research scientists found a document that contained records of a certain priest of Upir. In turn, Upir wrote that in 1044 the Glagolitic alphabet was used in Rus', but the Slavic people perceived it as the work of the enlightener Cyril and began to call it “Cyrillic.”

It is difficult to say how different the culture of Ancient Rus' was at that time. The emergence of writing in Rus', as is commonly believed, began precisely from the moment of widespread dissemination of the books of the Enlightenment, despite the facts indicating that writing was an important element for pagan Rus'.

The rapid development of Slavic writing: the baptism of a pagan land

The rapid pace of development of the written language of the East Slavic peoples began after the baptism of Rus', when writing appeared in Rus'. In 988, when Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in Rus', children who were considered the social elite began to be taught using alphabetic books. It was at this same time that church books appeared in written form, inscriptions on cylinder locks, and there were also written expressions that blacksmiths embossed to order on swords. Texts appear on princely seals.

Also, it is important to note that there are legends about coins with inscriptions that were used by princes Vladimir, Svyatopolk and Yaroslav.

And in 1030, birch bark letters became widely used.

The first written records: birch bark letters and books

The first written records were those on birch bark letters. Such a document is a written record on a small fragment of birch bark.

Their uniqueness is that today they are perfectly preserved. For researchers, such a find is of great importance: in addition to the fact that thanks to these letters one can learn the features of the Slavic language, writing on birch bark can tell about important events that took place during the period of the eleventh to fifteenth centuries. Such records have become an important element for studying the history of Ancient Rus'.

In addition to Slavic culture, birch bark letters were also used among cultures of other countries.

At the moment, the archives contain many birch bark documents, the authors of which are Old Believers. In addition, with the advent of birch bark “paper”, people learned to peel birch bark. This discovery was the impetus for writing books on Slavic writing in Rus' began to develop more and more.

A find for researchers and historians

The first writings made on birch bark paper that were found in Russia were in the city of Veliky Novgorod. Anyone who has studied history knows that this city was of no small importance for the development of Rus'.

A new stage in the development of writing: translation as the main achievement

The southern Slavs had a huge influence on writing in Rus'.

Under Prince Vladimir, books and documents from the South Slavic language began to be translated in Rus'. And under Prince Yaroslav the Wise, the literary language began to develop, thanks to which such a literary genre as church literature appeared.

The ability to translate texts from foreign languages ​​was of great importance for the Old Russian language. The first translations (of books) that came from the Western European side were translations from Greek. It was the Greek language that largely changed the culture of the Russian language. Many borrowed words were used more and more in literary works, even in the same church writings.

It was at this stage that the culture of Rus' began to change, the writing of which became increasingly more complex.

Reforms of Peter the Great: on the way to simple language

With the advent of Peter I, who reformed all the structures of the Russian people, significant amendments were made even to the culture of the language. The appearance of writing in Rus' in ancient times immediately complicated the already complex In 1708, Peter the Great introduced the so-called “civil font”. Already in 1710, Peter the Great personally revised every letter of the Russian language, after which a new alphabet was created. The alphabet was distinguished by its simplicity and ease of use. The Russian ruler wanted to simplify the Russian language. Many letters were simply excluded from the alphabet, thereby simplifying not only spoken language, but also written language.

Significant changes in the 18th century: introduction of new symbols

The main change during this period was the introduction of such a letter as “and short”. This letter was introduced in 1735. Already in 1797 Karamzin used a new sign to indicate the sound “yo”.

By the end of the 18th century, the letter “yat” lost its meaning, because its sound coincided with the sound of “e”. It was at this time that the letter “yat” was stopped being used. Soon it also ceased to be part of the Russian alphabet.

The last stage of development of the Russian language: minor changes

The final reform that changed the written language in Rus' was the reform of 1917, which lasted until 1918. It meant the exclusion of all letters whose sound was either too similar or even repeated. It is thanks to this reform that today the hard sign (Ъ) is a dividing sign, and the soft (b) has become a dividing sign when denoting a soft consonant sound.

It is important to note that this reform caused enormous dissatisfaction on the part of many prominent literary figures. For example, Ivan Bunin strongly criticized this change in his native language.