“The story of a miracle of the cross with first three fingers...” (Moscow, 1677) in the collection of the Russian State Library: history of original publication and its copies

The historiography of “The Story of a Miracle.” (Moscow, 1677) has not been thoroughly examined. This book played a significant role in the confrontation between the official Russian Orthodox church and the Old Believers. It recounts a miraculous event involving Fyodor Vysheslavtsev, the former nursery of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. This study aims to explore the publication history of this book and the characteristics of its copies through source and book analysis. The article highlights the author’s use of ideas from “The Rod of Rule” (Moscow, 1667) by Simeon of Polotsk regarding the three-finger Sign of the Cross for a debate with the Old Believers. It was found that the original version closely replicated these ideas, with changes made for clarity in the printed edition. Nine copies of “The Story of a Miracle.” from the Russian State Library were examined for their bindings, bookplates, notes, and markings. Additionally, the corpus of archival documents on the publication of the book and a manuscript draft were analyzed to reveal the unique textual characteristics and draw the conclusion that the book was indented for a very wide audience.