HISTORY OF THE LIFE

OF ST. MASHTOTS VARDAPET

EXAMINATION AND TEXT

PREFACE

When writing about St. Mashtots and his school during the 15th centenary of the translation of the Bible, I was occupied with Koriwn. For this reason, when Mr. A. Alboyajian proposed that I translate Koriwn’s "Life of Mashtots," I gladly took on the task (1942, Beirut). I completed the translation that same year. This translation was also to be accompanied by the Original Text. I wanted to reconstruct that Original Text; however, when I finished my work, I noticed that the Original Text was excessively burdened with critical apparatus. These were necessary to justify the changes I had made, but Mr. Alboyajian's goal was to provide a popular edition. We could not reach an agreement on this and other points.

M. Abeghyan’s edition was still inaccessible to me, and I also lacked certain sources and studies that could not be found in the Beirut environment. I did not rush to publish my work. After returning to Vienna (1946), I engaged in other tasks. I considered the 200th anniversary of Mkhitar Founder of the Mkhitarist Order to be the most opportune occasion to publish this work of mine, saving the publication of the translation for another time.

Reconstructing the highly corrupted original text required great effort from me, but I am happy that I succeeded, to the p o s s i b l e extent, in representing the text of the 5th century. Debatable readings certainly remain there, as do questionable corrections. In any case, this is the first time an attempt has been made to take into consideration the fragments of Koriwn preserved in Agathangelos, Faustus, and the "Brief Koriwn," as well as other manuscript fragments, for the reconstruction of Koriwn's Original Text.

In the introduction, I have spoken about the sources upon which I based my reconstruction, and below the Original Text, I have placed the readings of the manuscripts and my other observations. At the end of the Original Text, I have provided elucidations regarding various historical and philological questions.

It was my desire to include, alongside the Original Text, those passages that Agathangelos and Faustus borrowed from Koriwn, as well as the corresponding passages from the "Brief Koriwn," to facilitate the task for philologists to re-examine the Original Text I reconstructed. However, space did not allow me to burden my publication further with this not-so-essential Appendix.