Our Notes & References

Extremely rare, richly illustrated Russian translation of this very successful French version of the Bible, which interpreted the text so as to make it more accessible for the masses, unlike the traditional Orthodox Bible in Church Slavonic.

This edition is absent from OCLC and standard bibliographies. The sole copy we could trace is at the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg, and is defective, lacking a title.

This Russian translation was completed by Vasilii Krylov and based on the ‘latest revised edition’ of L’Histoire du Vieux et du Nouveau Testament, représentée avec des figures et des explications édifiantes […] written by Royaumont (Nicolas Fontaine, 1625 – 1709), a Jansenite of the Port-Royal movement, which strove to purify Catholicism. He completed this work while in captivity at the Bastille (1666-68), supposedly with much help from the French theologian, Port-Royal priest and humanist Lemaistre de Sacy (1613-84), who was his companion in prison.

Works that offered interpretations of the Old and New Testament grew increasingly popular in the Russian Empire between the 1780s and 1830s, with most of the publications being translated from original Greek or French works. The New Testament was first published in modern Russian in 1822, and until then the Bible was only available in Old Church Slavonic. The vast majority of the population could not read OCS though, and their understanding of the Bible was therefore entirely dependent on the priest who interpreted it for them. The clergy strove to retain control over interpretations of the Bible such as this one, which resulted in many texts being censored and banned.

We couldn’t find this edition in standard bibliographies, which instead include Dmitrii Maksheev’s better known Russian translation of the same French work. This was published later, in 1828, with a slightly shortened title and 172 plates, and names the original French author as de Sacy, unlike in the Krylov version. Maksheev’s translation is an independent work in which most parts of the text differ from the 1820 edition. Some differences are purely stylistic, while others are a bit more ideological. Though Maksheev does not mention the existence of an earlier Russian translation in his introduction, it is worth noting that some passages in his version are identical to the Krylov translation, with only occasional changes in word order. It seems very likely that Maksheev owned a copy of the 1820 edition and relied on it heavily.

The rarity of our edition can perhaps be explained by flaws in the censorship procedure. In 1820 it was a legal requirement that all spiritual literature go through Church Censorship (Dukhovnaia Tsenzura), which would make sure that the work did not breach existing dogma. While the Maksheev translation underwent this standard procedure, the censorship approval for the 1820 edition bears only the name Ivan Timkovskii. Timovskii was a Saint Petersburg censor and not authorised to review spiritual literature; it is therefore quite possible that the publication of this edition wasn’t fully authorised as it should have been, a fact later uncovered and resulting possibly in the edition being suppressed.

A crisp copy in contemporary binding.

Provenance

Contemporary inscription to upper fly leaf “Kniga siia Ieromonakha Tarasiia” [“This book [belongs to] Priest Tarasii”]; possibly Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (1831-1891; bookplate to upper pastedown, possibly supplied).

Bibliography

Svod. Kat. 1801-1825, No 4490; Smirdin 808 (priced at 18 rub); not in Obolianinov, Sopikov, Ulianinskii.