The Library of St. Theophan the Recluse

The article describes the history of the library of St. Theophan the Recluse, also known as “Theophan Zatvornik” (1815-1894), the famous theologian and spiritual writer of the 19th century, the owner of one of the largest private libraries. Despite the large number of studies on the theological heritage of St. Theophan the Recluse, the history and composition of his library is still not revealed, what determines the relevance of the article. The main objectives of the article are to identify and analyze all the surviving inventories of the library, to explore the possibility of determining the composition and history of the library. The main sources for this task are the memoirs of his contemporaries, published in the periodicals of the 19th century, as well as two inventories of the library, made after the death of St. Theophan the Recluse, by the librarian of the Moscow Theological Seminary N.A. Kolosov and by the unknown author. There was revealed that after the death of St. Theophan the Recluse, his library got into the library of the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, and after the revolution - to the Russian State Library. All the books had Losevs library stamp. Research work on revealing all the editions with Losevs library stamp in the holdings of the Russian state library will allow to determine the composition of the book collection of St. Theophan.

Cellular Library, St. Theophan the Recluse, Seclusion, the Losevs, Library of the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi

1. Creations of Theophan Zatvornik, vol. 1. Moscow, 1994, p. 220 (in Russ.).

2. In the Recluse’s Cell, Edifying Reading, 1894, part 1, april, pp. 687—702 (in Russ.).

3. Recollections about reposed in the Lord Bishop Theophan, Tambov diocese bulletin, no. 39, 30th September, 1895, Informal. part, pp. 1001—1003 (in Russ.).

4. Kolosov N.A. Theophan Zatvornik’s Library, Edifying Reading, part 1, april, pp. 553—566 (in Russ.).

5. Kolosov N.A. Theophan Zatvornik’s Library. Moscow, 1895, 8 p. (in Russ.).

6. An inventory of the library of St. Theophan (24th February — 3th March, 1894), Archive Panteleimonov monaster, coll. of St. Theophan, aids 24, fol. 40, item 4291, pp. 1—10 (in Russ.).

7. Kashirina V.V. The history of the library of St. Theophan, St. Theophan and books, Vyshensky convent Publ., 2014, pp. 25—41 (in Russ.).

8. Parish Guardianship at the Church of St. Nicolas the Miracle-Worker in Tolmachi, Edifying Reading, 1898, part 1, february, pp. 356—362 (in Russ.).

9. The Account of the State Rumyantsev Museum for 1916—1922. Moscow, State Publ., [1923], pp. 97—98 (in Russ.).