Kapral Myron

The Mykhailo Hunashevskyi codex: composition and history of monument

Section: Studies of Archival and Book Fonds

Abstract: Objective. To investigate the composition and history of the Mykhailo Hunashevskyi codex, to present it as a holistic monument and ego-document of a 17th-century Ukrainian intellectual, and to trace the history of the manuscript’s existence. Methodology. A comprehensiv approach was applied, including source studies, textual, paleographic, and codicological analysis of the manuscript, as well as historical-cultural, historiographical, biographical methods, and comparative analysis with other contemporary monuments. Scientific novelty. A comprehensive analysis of the codex as a holistic monument and a unique 17th-century ego-document for Ukrainian culture has been carried out. The importance of studying all components of the codex, and not only the most famous individual texts (“Perestoroha” and the Lviv Chronicle), is emphasized. The complex history of the manuscript's existence, from its creation to its entry into modern collections, has been systematized and clarified. Conclusions. The Hunashevskyi codex is a valuable and unique manuscript collection for understanding the intellectual, spiritual, and cultural life of Ukraine in the mid-17th century. Its content comprehensively reveals the diverse interests of the compiler — a graduate of the Zamość Academy and a cleric of the Lviv eparchy, Mykhailo Hunashevskyi — encompassing ancient and contemporary literature, polemical, historical, demonological, medical, astrological texts, and documents. The monument demonstrates the author’s orthodox worldview, his spiritual quests and aesthetic preferences, reflecting the process of intellectual development of the individual. The codex, which has features of a “Silva rerum” and an ego-document and is written in several languages, has undergone a complex journey from its creation to modern researchers and requires further comprehensive study.

Keywords: Hunashevskyi Codex, Mykhailo Hunashevskyi, Lviv Chronicle, Perestoroha, manuscript, ego-document, Silva rerum, Zamość Academy, Lviv Dormition Brotherhood, intellectual history.

  Full-text PDF    https://doi.org/10.15407/rksu.40.005     Citation

• Kapral Myron (M.S. Hrushevsky Institute of Ukrainian Archeography and Source Studies, Lviv Branch (Lviv, Ukraine), m.kapral@yahoo.com) ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1317-2894

Cite:
Kapral Myron. (2026). The Mykhailo Hunashevskyi codex: composition and history of monument. Manuscript and book heritage of Ukraine, (1) 5-30 . https://doi.org/10.15407/rksu.40.005

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