Documents from the Archive of the Office of Book Printing Concerning the Educational Work of the Moscow Printery, 1615-1700

The research subject of this study is the educational work of the Moscow printery in 1615-1700, the effectiveness of which is assessed through the prism of its preparation and publication of educational books. Upon writing this article, the author applied the historical-comparative and historical-typological methods, as well as undertook a cliometric analysis of archive data. The paper presents the results of a study conducted over the course of many years and based on the material from the Office of Book Printing (Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, collection 1182) concerning textbook printing in Moscow in the 17th century, including Alphabet books, Horologions and Training Psalters. Based on the discovered documents, it was possible to compile the first, and at the moment most complete and reliable, repertoire of publications made by the Moscow printery in 1615-1700, which includes 631 titles. The author documented 60 editions of Alphabet books, 72 - Horologions and 58 - Training Psalters. Together they make up about a third of all publications by the Moscow printery in the studied period. Their total print number amounted to 640,366 copies, which were sold at affordable prices to a wide range of people. This has allowed the author to uncover the real aims and methods of Moscow book printing, which fully furbished Russian society with books for literacy and education. The article also analyzes the “Directions for the Teacher”, which is a methodological tool for teaching children the Russian language, and the Grammar Book of Meletius Smotrytsky, both published by the Moscow printery in the middle of the 17th century. These publications laid the foundation for the study and teaching of the Church Slavonic language in the indicated period of Russian history.