Azbukovnyk

Azbukovnyk [азбуковник]. A reference book in which information is arranged in alphabetical order. At first, and as late as the 18th–19th century, these were handwritten dictionaries of foreign (Greek, ancient Hebrew) and little-known words. Eventually azbukovnyky expanded to include various branches of knowledge and assumed an encyclopedic character. In Ukraine the first printed azbukovnyk appeared in 1627—Pamva Berynda’s Leksikon slavenorosskyi al'bo imen" tolkovanyie (A Slavonic-Ruthenian Lexicon and Explanation of Proper Names). Azbukovnyky were very popular in the 16th–17th century; their authors were anonymous, usually members of the Lviv Dormition Brotherhood School. About 200 copies of various azbukovnyky have been preserved.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]