Russian Sources for the primer of Zaharija Orfelin (1767)

Abstract

The article deals with the Zaharija Orfelin’s primer (Pervoe učenie chotjaščym učitisja knig pismeny slavenskimi, nazyvaemoe Bukvar’), published in Venice in 1767 in the printing house of Demetrio Teodosio. It presents an overview of its contents in connection with Russian and, more extensively, East Slavonic didactic tradition, represented by printed primers and the grammar of Meletij Smotrickij (the 1721 Moscow edition). The article focuses on identifying the Russian sources of Zaharija Orfelin’s primer and demonstrates the use of Michail Lomonosov’s Rossijskaja grammatika.