Kyiv Manuscripts of “The Ladder” of John Climacus

The aim of the work is to draw attention of specialists to the most valuable manuscripts of one of the most popular of literary works of Byzantine teaching literature stored in Kyiv. The methodology. The main research method applied is the text linguistics method of manuscript analysis. In addition, descriptive, structural, and comparative analysis methods are used in the paper. The scientific novelty. The article for the first time refers to the Slavic manuscripts of «The Ladder» of John Climacus in the collections of the Institute of Manuscript of the Library of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. A total of 35 books, which were created in the 14th-19th centuries, are stored in the Institute of Manuscript of the V. I. Vernadskyi National Library of Ukraine, 19 manuscripts of «Lestvitsa» («The Ladder of Divine Ascent») are available in the fond of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, 6 manuscripts of «The Ladder» are in the collection of the Kyiv-Sophia Cathedral. Three books are stored in the collection of the Church and Archaeological Museum of the Kyiv Theological Academy. Three manuscripts are in the fond of the Pochaiv Lavra. In addition, the Manuscripts of «The Ladder» are available in the collection of the Kyiv Theological Academy, in the fund of single receipts, in the collection of the Prince Bezborodko Institute of History and Philology in Nizhyn and in the archive collection of the Pustynno-Nikolaevskyi Monastery. The 35 surviving Slavonic codes represent many different versions of the Slavonic text of «The Ladder», 14 of them are «The Siberian Ladder» by Philotheus Leshchynskyi. The most popular in the Middle Ages, the Athos translation of «The Ladder», is contained in 11 manuscripts. In 4 manuscripts a translation was preserved, which was made in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Monastery in 1455. Three manuscripts are copies from the printed edition of «The Ladder». One manuscript contains the translation of «The Ladder» into the Ukrainian language. One book is a Ukrainian revision of the text of «The Ladder». In one manuscript there is a translation by Paisius Velychkovskyi. Conclusions. The general picture of the existence of «Lestvitsa» («The Ladder of Divine Ascent ») in the Slavic background is incorrect and incomplete without taking into account the linguistic and textual data of the Kyiv manuscripts. The study of the Kyiv manuscripts of «The Ladder» is important for the history of the Ukrainian language, as well as for the history of the Russian language and the general Slavonic literary language.