FRAGMENTS FROM THE LIFE OF ST. STEPHEN OF PERM IN THE KIRILLO-BELOZERSKY COLLECTIONS OF THE LATE 15TH — EARLY 16TH CENTURY

At the end of the 15th century, two extracts were made from the complete copy of the Life of St. Stephen of Perm in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery by an unknown scribe into diff erent collections: a fragment from the chapter “On the Perm Alphabet” and a small eschatological fragment. The source of both extracts was the earliest known complete copy of the Life from the “Thick Sobornik” — a unique hagiographic Collection of the 1470s. Being part of the Kirillo-Belozersky manuscript tradition of the Life, these extracts indicate that by the end of the 15th century the “Thick Sobornik”, about the place of creation of which there is no data yet, was already in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Referring to these extracts expands our understanding of the early stage of the manuscript tradition of the Life of St. Stephen of Perm.