20.10.2014  The Berlin copy of the Novgorod First Chronicle, previously considered lost forever, has returned home

On 17 October, a new book “The Novgorod First Chronicle. The Berlin copy” by Alexander Mayorov, Professor of the St. Petersburg State University was presented at the Museum of Fine Arts conference hall (Sofiyskaya Square # 2).

The Berlin copy was found in 2008 at the Berlin State Library. Until then, it has been considered lost forever. An adscript in the bottom of the manuscript, made by the scribe, sheds light upon the origins of this document — it has been copied in 1738 from a work of “a scribe of yore of the Senate Archives”. The Berlin copy stands unique among other currently known Novgorod First Chronicle copies in that it has remained uncorrupted and unabridged. This makes it valuable and significant for historical studies.

“What does it mean — the Novgorod First Chronicle? It is the most important, the most fundamental, and the most ancient source of knowledge about Ancient Rus. Above all, about Novgorod. For five centuries straight, before submitting to Moscow, Novgorod had been the main settlement of Rus, and here people were interested in the history of all Rus, every land and every town, and they kept records of events there. These records have influenced the Chronicle,” as Prof. Mayorov points out.

“The Novgorod First Chronicle. The Berlin copy” will be kept at the Museum of Fine Arts. Another copy has been handed to the NovSU Academic Museum of Russian Written Culture and Booklore. Students of the Faculty of History and Svetlana Kovarskaya, the Director of the Cultural Studies Centre of the NovSU School of Humanities attended the presentation. Kovarskaya noted the great significance of the day. “Today, there exist about ten Novgorodian chronicles of different origins, since the books in Ancient Rus were hand-copied. Each scribe added or removed something; consequently, it is highly important to find the original source. We are primarily concerned with making the knowledge about Novgorodian history deeper,” said Svetlana Kovarskaya.

The presentation of the book was later flowered by a public lecture “Russian Chronicles in Foreign Archives and Libraries’ Collections” by Prof. Mayorov for NovSU academicians and students.

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