Feodor Petrov’s special content chronograph

The article deals with a unique historical writings named the Special Content Chronograph and composed by a priest, Feodor Petrov, in Yaroslavl in the late XVII and the early XVIII centuries. It consists of an introduction and a prayer written probably by Petrov himself, and extensive compilations of the Old Testament texts corresponding to the Ostrog Bible (excluding the Psalter), borrowings from the Russian Chronograph (1512 and 1617), Dmitry Rostovsky’s Synopsis, and a number of updates. The latter mainly concern local news of Yaroslavl city life: only this text tells about the participation of foreign craftsmen in the building of the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir. The book also contains different extracts - from The Book of Degrees of the Royal Genealogy, Menologion, Zosima’s Voyage to Jerusalem, the Ecclesiastical Calendar, Greater Mirror (Speculum Majus), Cosmography, etc. (at least 100 sources in total). The work is illustrated with engravings (Russian and Western European), some of which are painted by hand, headpieces cut from books, ornaments, etc. A part of the manuscript had been created in the last quarter of the XVII century, probably by some forerunner of Feodor Petrov, who was working with the manuscript mainly in the early XVIII century and completed the work in 1720. At the same time, the contemporary events taking place during the reign of Peter the Great are not mentioned in the manuscript. The Chronograph is an evidence of the creative interest of a provincial priest in Russian history and literature, it demonstrates the breadth of his views and interests, the range of his vision, and the desire to indicate his position and opinion about the things he read. The fact that the original manuscript has been preserved is of a great value, as this allows to conduct a thorough analysis (including historical and textual examination) of a unique record from the times of Peter the Great.