Book of Psalms: word-for-word translated from Church Slavonic into the Russian-Ukrainian language.Vienna, 1900

«Happy is the man who has not gone to the heathen joy, nor set foot on the path of sinners…»

Book of Psalms: literally translated from Church Slavonic into the Russian-Ukrainian language. The translator's name is not indicated on the title page.

Vienna: published by Adolf Holtzhausen, 1900. — Text of Psalms 1–150 in two columns, ends on p. 125. — Approx. 18 × 11 cm. Edition not indicated.

In half-cloth binding: black cloth on the spine and corners, marbled paper endpapers in blue and cream tones; owner's initials embossed in gold at the bottom of the spine, the embossing is worn and partially illegible. Block edges are speckled, in blue-green tones. Cloth is worn along the edges, corners are blunted, marbled paper has small losses of paint layer. Paper has uniform yellowing, stains on the edges and occasional spots; corners of the first and last leaves are creased and rubbed; several leaves in the middle of the block protrude from the spine. On the title page, under the printed vignette, there is an owner's inscription in pencil, faded and illegible; near the beginning of Psalm 50, there is an ink mark. Condition: good.

The book has historical and cultural value and is of collectible interest.

INFORMATION

This is a literal, rather than a poetic, translation of the Psalter — exactly as stated on the title page: "literally translated". The translator follows the Church Slavonic text word for word, but presents it in the Galician vernacular of the late 19th century, with characteristic forms such as "вôнъ", "щасливъ чоловѣкъ", "зрадують ся". Because of this, the edition is interesting not only as a liturgical book, but also as a linguistic artifact: it records the moment when the living Ukrainian language was first systematically adapted to a sacred text, which until then had only been heard in Church Slavonic. Printed in a font imitating uncial script, in two columns — the layout consciously follows the tradition of a liturgical book.

For centuries, the Psalter in Ukrainian lands was not only a prayer book, but also a primer: people learned to read from it, and it was read over the sick and the dying. The translation of the Psalms into the living language in Galicia in the 1890s was a delicate matter — both the church and secular sides saw it as a matter of national dignity. At the end of the 19th century, Ukrainian translations of the Holy Scriptures (Panteleimon Kulish, Ivan Pulyi, Ivan Nechuy-Levytsky) were published precisely in Vienna, outside the bounds of Russian censorship.

Adolf Holtzhausen was the owner of a major Viennese printing house, which had the status of the Imperial and Royal Court and University printer and published works in many languages of the monarchy, including Cyrillic. In that same year, 1899, he published a previous edition of this book. Both editions are rarely found on the antiquarian market, and there is no digitized copy in Ukrainian electronic libraries.