The Solovetsky Monastery Library is one of few book collections of Russian monasteries that have survived intact. The library dates back to the end of the 15th century and is associated with the educational activities of Hegumen Dositheos.
An original author and book lover, he was close to a circle of literary translators and book writers who created the first full Bible in Old Slavonic language. So called Gennady's Bible was produced in 1499 on behalf of the Novgorod Archbishop Gennady. In Novgorod, Dositheos ordered several dozen handwritten books of a variety of content for the Solovetsky Monastery. This rich donation became the cornerstone of the Solovetsky Library.
The online resource presents 23 handwritten books that once belonged to Dositheos and are still part of the Solovetsky collection. Most of these Old Russian manuscripts contain a special mark of Dositheos - the first Russian bookplate.
Dositheos's collection of books is the phase one of this project. The resource will be added with the most valuable manuscripts from the Solovetsky collection which has been preserved in the National Library of Russia since 1928. A virtual version of the famous Solovetsky Library provides wide access to the study of the precious handwritten heritage of Russia.