Latin Books and the Eastern Orthodox Clerical Elite in Kiev, 1632-1780

Founded in 1632, the library of the Kiev Mohyla Academy went up in flames in 1780. Encompassing predominantly humanist, scholastic and homiletic titles in Latin yet placed in a heartland of Eastern Orthodox territories, the library was something of an anomaly for its time, offering East Slavic intellectuals a comprehensive introduction to Western printed matter. Those books brought along with them not only a new pattern of knowledge, but also an awareness of the diversity and multiplicity of views which the educated could hold.

Table of Contents:

List of abbreviations * Acknowledgements * Introduction * ‘The future written in the stars’? The historical background * ‘The only legacy of my life’: Peter Mohyla and his College * ‘Latin books are readily available’: Mohyla’s private library * The ‘Old’ and the ‘New’ collections: the library from within * ‘Completely destroyed’? The 1780 fire and the surviving books * ‘Seeds being sown up and down’: the library as a tool and cultural symbol * Conclusion * Appendix I - List of the surviving books * Appendix II - List of the authors quoted in Athanasius Kalnofoyski’s Teratourgema (Kiev, 1638) * Bibliography

See: http://us.macmillan.com/latinbooksandtheeasternorthodoxclericaleliteinkiev16321780