Приписки и микроистория
Marginal Notes on Liturgical Books and Microhistory

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with a specific type of historical sources which are of primary importance for microhistory: the short marginal notes that could be found on liturgical books. These are both published and unpublished marginal notes that have come down to us on liturgical books from Mid-Western Bulgaria. They represent a valuable source for the study of local history. Marginal notes throw light not so much on political events as on the role which the Church played in everyday life. They also mention some facts concerning the local school system, the changes that occurred in the clothes fashion, and some demographic facts. Further, the marginal notes under consideration helped scholars get better acquainted with the peculiarities of the local dialects and culture and the ways in which local people interpreted both the world and local events. The unique nature of this type of sources created the idea of writing microhistory as an attempt to present a parallel version of history. Microhistory is characterized by its regional approach. Thanks to the methods of historical anthropology, microhistory could stop being a subsidiary field of history and could become a discipline in its own right. The careful reading of marginal notes and their analysis in conjunction with known facts could paint a unique picture of everyday life and local events that have so far remained hidden from the eyes of historians. This would, no doubt, present a contribution to national history.

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