TO THE READERS

Among the literary works matenagrut'iwn This term refers to the entire corpus of classical Armenian literature and manuscript tradition. of our ancestors, Agathangelos The traditional author and purported secretary to King Tiridates III; he is the primary chronicler of Armenia's conversion to Christianity. stands as the foremost. He is first not only in the antiquity of his era and the nobility of his subject matter, but—I dare say—also in his exquisite Armenian eloquence haykabanut'iwn A term denoting the refined, classical style of the Armenian language, often associated with the "Golden Age" of the 5th century..

For these reasons, he should have been the very first to be presented to the public through the medium of printing. However, we waited for a more opportune time until we could obtain that oldest and most select manuscript copy original: "Orenakn," referring to the specific exemplar used for this edition. of his work, which is held in the Royal Library of Paris now the Bibliothèque nationale de France.. Concerning this manuscript, as discussed below, we have sought to record the text in print without error...