Life of st. Pancratius: clarification of terms and reconstruction of book writing and icon painting realia in the 10th and 11th centuries

Introduction. The paper attempts to compare and analyze specific words identifying book writing and icon painting realia in the Life of St. Pancratius thereby providing new definitions for these terms. In the light of the results obtained, it became possible to propose a reconstruction of book writing and icon painting at the time described in the Life of St. Pancratius. Methods. The methodological basis of the research is the comparative analysis of various editions of the same literary work. Analysis. There was no unity among specialists involved in the translation of the Life of St. Pancratius into other languages (namely Russian and English) in conveying the meaning of certain words. This situation led to the misconception and obscurity of the historical situation with liturgical books in this text. The analysis of evidence in regards to writing materials and bookmaking has been performed via comparison of two various editions of the Life of St. Pancratius: the first edition published by C.J. Stallman and the unpublished second edition in the manuscript of GIM Vlad. 381. Results. The examination of the writing and icon-painting materials introduced in the Life of St. Pancratius was accomplished via comparison of the published first edition with the unreleased second edition. This comparison has led to uncovering new data, which adds to the historical picture - more specifically it describes on which materials the books and the icons were created in the Life of St. Pancratius.