Kanonik. [Book of Canons].

Russia, [1866]. . 4to (23 x 18,5 cm). Illuminated manuscript on paper, ff. [4] index, [4 blank], 344, 17 lines per page, alphabetic signatures and pagination of Cyrillic alphabetic numerals, 35 full-page illuminations in watercolour, 36 headpieces in black and gold with first lines in gilt; occasional light spotting and soiling, mostly marginal. Contemporary gilt-stamped red morocco, gilt spine with raised bands, edges gilt and gauffered, gilt endpapers; slightly rubbed, lacking both clasps.
An exceptionally fine example of an Old Believer liturgical book, beautifully illustrated with 35 full-page illuminations.

Created by a skilful master, they depict in great detail the most significant events of the New Testament including the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Baptism of Christ, the Ascension, the Twelve Apostles and more.

This volume was made for and used by Old Believers, who separated from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1652 and 1666. These Old Believers refused to accept alterations and amendments to the Holy texts aimed at bringing their religious practice closer to the 'original' Greek Orthodoxy. They refused to allow sacred texts to be printed, instead reproducing them as manuscripts.

The large size of this book, its high-quality paper, neat script, very detailed illuminations, and attractive gilt binding prove beyond doubt that no expense was spared on its production. As the colophon indicates, it was made for Evdokiia Ivanovna Babaeva, the wife of a merchant in Kolomna, which was then an important trade point near Moscow. There are records of several men with this surname in Kolomna during the mid-XIX century, all of them owners of factories in the city and probably members of the same wealthy merchant family. Kolomna was also important as a centre of the Old Believer community. The city's Bishop, Paul, fiercely opposed Patriarch Nikon's reforms and was consequently stripped of the rank of Bishop, exiled, and eventually killed in 1656, rendering him a martyr in the view of many Old Believers.A century later, 156 Old Believers were officially registered in Kolomna, then a city of 5400 inhabitants. Many more practised their beliefs in secret to avoid persecution.

This volume later belonged to Cornelius J. Hauck (1893-1967), whose outstanding and somewhat eclectic collection was formed with the help of the well-respected antiquarian bookseller Emil Offenbacher between 1945 and 1965. The collection was given to the Cincinnati Historical Society Library in 1966, where it remained largely unknown to the world until part of it was auctioned by Christie's in New York in 2006.

Russian manuscripts of this quality and preserved in such pristine condition are extremely rare.
S.S. Mikhailov, Istoriya staroobriadchestva g. Kolomna i ego okrestnostey (Kolomna, Staroobriadcheskaya obshchina khrama Nikoly na Posade v g. Kolomna, 2013).