History of Vardan and the Armenian War (1957) - Page 12

In the patriarchate of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin of Lord Ephrem,

the God-chosen Catholicos of All Armenians

and in the patriarchate of the Holy See of Jerusalem of Lord Gabriel,

the grace-shining Archbishop.

By order and expense of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Lord Poghos,

Archbishop of Adrianople.

Printed

in Constantinople

in the printing house of the mother church of Holy Astvatsatsin [Holy Mother of God]

By the diligence of Father Andreas Vardapet Narinian

of Akn

1823. 1272 [Armenian Era].

From the introduction (pp. 3—6) we provide the following passage.

After explaining the significance of Eghishe's History...

"For this reason, some of the pious and noble philologists, desiring this desirable treasure, wished to set a table for those in need; but the results of the matter did not turn out as they deserved.

"Because, having at hand only one corrupted and erroneous copy at the time, with good intentions and a certain fear—lest it completely vanish due to the antiquity of time and those who wish to enjoy it remain untasting of its sweetness—they printed it in Constantinople in the year of the Lord 1764.

"In it, one sees manifold errors—sometimes the meaning of the words is completely reversed, and sometimes it is rendered unintelligible by the omission or alteration of words. For this reason, the souls of the readers were not sweetened as they should have been, nor did the honor and labor of the pious author appear. All this which we have said, and more than this, the lover of reading can see by comparing this with the old one.

"And seeing that the corrupted printed copies have also become rare and expensive, and there are many who desire and seek it, moved by love for our nation, we gave the order to record it in type with a new, corrected text, according to the best and error-free copy, which had been copied with faithful calligraphy in Armenia by the memorable Gevorg the Palace Scribe, who also had a colophon of this example:

"'This historical book of Saint Eghishe was written in Greater Armenia, in the Armenian year 1150 [=1701], by the hand of a certain unworthy Gevorg of Constantinople, from an ancient copy that was written in the Ararat country in the Armenian year 716 [=1267], in the days of the patriarchate of Lord Nerses, brother of Grigor, who sat in Roman Claudiopolis [original: "Klayn hrovmeakan"].'

He signed: 'I remain always a prayer-maker for you, the humble servant of the servants of God, Poghos, Archbishop of Adrianople and Patriarch of this great capital, Constantinople.'"

Text: pp. 7—214.

Pages 215—218. Appendix: Word concerning the historical writings of Eghishe, taken from the history of Tovma Vardapet and the historian of the Artsruni house. Concerning the bloodshed of Barzuma.