The Epistle to Nicholas by Mark the Ascetic (CPG 6094) in an Old Bulgarian Translation Cover Image
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Послание на анахорет Марк до Никола (CPG 6094) в старобългарски превод
The Epistle to Nicholas by Mark the Ascetic (CPG 6094) in an Old Bulgarian Translation

Author(s): Anisava Miltenova
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, History, Language studies, Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion, Translation Studies
Published by: Институт за литература - БАН

Summary/Abstract: St. Mark the Ascetic (4th century) is one of the most famous Egyptian anchorites. His writings are often included in monastic collections in both the Byzantine and Slavic traditions. The Epistle to Nicholas is particularly popular because it explicates the rules for an ascetic life. The earliest Old Church Slavonic translation dates from the 10th century and is preserved in a miscellany from the Hilandar monastery No. 382 from the 13th–14th century. While part of the corresponding folia in the Hilendar codex has been lost, MSS 72 (14th c.) and 310 (16th c.) from the Library of the Rumanian Academy (Bucharest), which go back to the same group of manuscripts, allow us to reconstruct the archetype. The selective translation adapted from the Greek original illustrates well the work of the medieval Bulgarian bookman. In the 14th century, a new version of the same text was created in Bulgaria, as attested in MSS Hlud 237 and Vienna 42, which was the result of a new collation of the Old Bulgarian translation with the Greek text. The Slavonic tradition of this text is an example for the existence of multiple translations and versions of one and the same work in old Slavic florilegia.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 52
  • Page Range: 61-84
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: Greek, Ancient (to 1453), Bulgarian, Old Bulgarian