This page is devoted to a series of reproductions of period manuscripts that appeared originally in the folio, Drevne-russkaia miniatiura, Moscow: Academia, 1933. The reproductions are mostly taken from religious manuscripts dating from the 15th to the early 17th centuries.
The copy of the folio used here is housed in the stacks of the University of Illinois and is gradually crumbling into dust. It belonged originally to the renowned historian George Vernadskii who worked for some time at Illinois.
The entire work consists of 100 reproductions with an attached book of commentary on each one. The eighteen examples here were chosen because they clearly showed the clothing of the people of the time and can be used for aiding reenactors working in this period. While most of the images are Biblical, the clothing styles are 15-17th century Russian. The commentary has been paraphrased and digested.