Library of Solovetsky Monastery

Library of Solovetsky Monastery

The holy monk Abbot Dositheus, a disciple of Saints Zosima and Savvati, founded the existing library of the Solovetsky Monastery. In 1493-1494, he ordered 24 handwritten books for the monastery in Novgorod (17 have been preserved), 50 books were received from him. "Description of the manuscripts of the Solovetsky Monastery ..." refers to the main collection, evacuated to Kazan during the Crimean War in 1854, and after the revolution transferred to the Imperial Public Library (now the Russian National Library) in St. Petersburg. Some of the manuscripts remained in Solovki, and later in private collections, some manuscripts left the monastery even earlier.