Religious Dissent in Russia: Old Believers. Installment 2: Cyrillic-Script Books, 1906-1916
The Old Believers movement Cyrillic-Script Books, 1906-1916 The printing of Old Believer books in
kirillicheskiĭ shrift is a unique phenomenon in book history. The Old Believer movement carried on the traditions of Russian Orthodox Christianity into the middle of the 20th century. The Old Believer culture was outstanding in its rigorous acceptance of Cyrillic Church Slavonic texts, and in its guarded attitude toward the same texts printed in
grazhdanskiĭ shrift, which were introduced by Peter I in 1708. The books printed in Cyrillic have therefore always been the main source of information concerning the history and spiritual faith of the Old Believers. The beginning of the 20th century witnessed an avalanche of printed Old Believer religious literature. This literature comprises a number of original monographs, titled books, and icon-painting originals, as well as reprinted anti-Old Believer pamphlets in
krillicheskiĭ shrift bearing polemic comments written by Old Believer adepts.