Polikarpov’s Primer of the 1701: Elementary education project in transitional Russia

The article discusses one of the first Muscovy primers printed in the early 18th century and used for over fifty years. The primer’s structure and its overall concept are analysed in detail. The article also considers the primer’s dictionary section and the theological concept which allowed to offer Russian students a three-language study book containing study materials in three languages (Church Slavonic, Greek, and Latin) but one Orthodox credo. Close reading methods allowed the author to consider such type of early Modern primers as a tool for strict confessional religious education and not for wider purposes.