Saint Nerses the Gracious (Սուրբ Ներսէս Շնորհալի), General E - Lot 247

Saint Nerses the Gracious (Սուրբ Ներսէս Շնորհալի), General Encyclical (Թուղթ ընդհանրական), 1788 St. Petersburg (Russia), impr. by Grigor Khaldariants son of Khodjamal, 1788. In-4° (22 x 15 cm), (16), 336 pages. Pages 300 to 336 constitute a second part (with continuous pagination) entitled Historical Panegyric (Դրուատ պատմագրաբար) of Saint Nersès the Gracious by his relative Nersès de Lampron. Complete with 3 engraved plates by Alexei Yakovlevich Kolpashnikov: full-length Saint Nerses, full-length Saint Mesrob and Saint Nerses seated in majesty on his seat surrounded by figures evoking a royal court in a distinctly Europeanized aesthetic. Numerous woodcut vignettes and initials. The last page features elegant hand-written calligraphy rewriting the title of the work: ԸՆԴՀԱՆՐԱԿԱՆ or générale (for encyclique générale). Beautifully restored calf binding with title-piece. Page 77 shows the first known engraving of the Armenian coat of arms, which was later used in 1794 in the Azdarar periodical printed in Madras as a symbol of Armenia's national liberation struggle.