Gospels were printed for the first time in A.D. 1606. The first
complete Slavonic Bible was published at Ostrog in Volhynia (Poland)
A.D. 1581, fol. printed after the manuscript of 1499, which also was
the first that comprehended the whole Bible.[24] The second edition of
the whole Slavonic Bible was printed eighty-two years later, at
Moscow, A.D. 1663. An enumeration of all the subsequent editions, is
given in the note below.[25]

The philological part of the church Slavonic language was not
cultivated so early as would have been desirable. There exists however
a grammar by Zizania, published A.D. 1596 in Warsaw. Twenty years
afterwards another by M. Smotrisky appeared, Wilna 1618. This work,
written like Zizania's grammar in the White-Russian dialect,[26] was
for a long time considered as of good authority; it reappeared in
several editions, and served as the basis of most of the grammars
written during the 17th and 18th centuries. M. Stroyeff found in the
Paris library the manuscript of an Old Slavic grammar, written in
Latin by John Uzewicz, a Student of Theology at the University of
Paris in 1643. In the year 1822, Dobrovsky published his
_Institutiones Linguae Slavicae dialecti vcteris_, a grammatical work
which, like all the productions of this distinguished scholar, throws
a new light upon the subject, and renders all former works of a
similar character useless.

The lexical part of this literature is more defective. Most of the
existing dictionaries are merely short and unsatisfactory
vocabularies. The most ancient is the work of P. Berynda, _Lex.
Slaveno-Russicum_, Kief 1627. More in use at present are the _Kratkoi
Slowar Slavjanskoi_, or 'Short Slavic Dictionary,' by Eugenius, St.
Petersb. 1784; and the larger 'Church Dictionary' by Alexejef, 4th ed.
St. Pet. 1817-19. A dictionary of this dialect for the special use of
foreigners, does not yet exist.[27]

In modern times considerable attention has been devoted to the
examination of the Old Slavic language and its relation to its kindred
dialects. Antiquarian and paleographical researches have been happily
combined with philological investigations; and the eminent names which
are found among these diligent and philosophical inquirers, insure the
best prospects to their cause.[28]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: See below in the History of the Russian Language, and the
so called _Improvement_ of the Bible and church books.]

[Footnote 2: In modern times th