Cursive Copies of Siberian Documents from 17th Century: A Paleographic Description

This article is dedicated to the paleographic description of Siberian documents from the 17th century that exist only in copies transcribed from original texts during the Second Kamchatka Expedition (1733–1743). It clarifies that the textual copies were created according to the graphic conventions of Russian cursive writing from the 18th century. The study highlights that function words are written as a single unit, while spaces are maintained between other linguistic units. It is reported that the letter-based dating method has been replaced by a numerical one. The analysis reveals that the handwriting features of both scribes bear resemblance to the characteristics of Kyiv cursive, which further developed in 18thcentury Russia. It is established that the use of extended letters in both copies has been significantly reduced. The findings demonstrate a diverse array of non-alphabetic diacritical marks actively employed, typically positioned above consonants that were subject to extension in business correspondence of the 16th and 17th centuries. It is proven that the scribes accurately convey variant spellings reflecting the phonetic nuances of 17th-century writers, reproducing their errors. However, it is emphasized that certain word forms recorded raise doubts about their accurate reproduction, reminding us that any manuscript copy is not free from mistakes.