Did you know that Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra tried to keep track of new entries on the book publishing market and regularly replenished its library with the new and up-to-day prints?

In the second half of the 18^th century, the Monastery’s collection of books included not only theological and preaching editions, but also publications on issues dealing with history, geography, law, economics, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, public administration, court etiquette, etc. For example, in 1770, Hieromonk Averky, the librarian of Lavra, asked Father Superior of the Monastery to buy a series of books. Among the editions on the list, there were two books: a popular romance “Belisarius”, written by the French educator Jean-François Marmontel, and the collection of aphorisms and rules of worldly wisdom “L Man of Court” (also known as “Manual Oracle” or “Art of Prudence”) written by the Spanish Jesuit writer Balthasar Gracian y Morales. These books were bought by Hieromonk Haggai (Kolosovsky) in St. Petersburg, which he then sent to Kyiv by mail.

Captions to the illustrations:

1. The title page of the book “Belisarius” by Jean-François Marmontel.

2. The title page of the book “L Man of Court” by Baltasar Gracian y Morales.

Oksana Prokopyuk