Ivan Blinov

Ivan Gavrilovich Blinov (Иван Гаврилович Блинов; November 5 (O.S.)/18 (N.S.), 1872 in Kudashikha, Bolshepesoshninskaya Volost, Balakhninsky Uyezd, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate, Russian Empire – June 8, 1944, ibidem, Gorodetsky District, Gorky Oblast, USSR) was a calligrapher and miniaturist, bookmaking master, who worked in the traditional manner.

Blinov was born to Beglopopovtsy parents and began to copy Old Believers manuscripts as a teenager. In 1905-1906 he was commissioned by the Nizhny Novgorod city council to study manuscript writing at the Solovetsky Monastery. In addition to this he also studied manuscript writing and calligraphy in various Russian museums and libraries.

In 1909-1906 he worked at the Old Believers book publishers that belonged to L.A. Malekhonov, where Blinov oversaw publication of several important books and reprints. He also worked on private commissions, and among his clients were the House of Romanov, Russian Historical Museum and the Rumyantsev Museum. In 1916 Blinov was drafted to a military hospital. In 1919 Blinov became a member of the scholarly board of the Russian Historical Museum.

In 1925 Blinov was forced to return to his home village due to family circumstances. In 1920-1930 he worked various jobs, was a member of a collective farm and continued to work on religious manuscripts as a hobby, while remaining under suspicion with the new secular government.

Blinov created almost 200 manuscript books, most of them containing various religious texts. He also worked on preservation of several important manuscripts. In addition to this Blinov is known as a book illustrator, a graphic artist and a painter.

Published works


1. Сказание о князе Михаиле Черниговском и о его боярине Феодоре: Факсимильное воспроизведение лицевого списка из собрания ГИМ / Пер. с древрус. и прил. И. В. Левочкина. М., 1988.

2. Слово о полку Игореве: Факсимильное воспроизведение лицевого списка работы И. Г. Блинова из собрания ГБЛ / Л. А. Дмитриев, Н. К. Гаврюшин, В. П. Гребенюк, И. И. Шкляревский. М., 1988.

3. Покровители семьи и брака святые Петр и Феврония Муромские / Издание выполнено по рукописи Государственного исторического музея: Повесть о Петре и Февронии Муромских. Художник и писец И. Г. Блинов. 1901 г. / Сост., пер. и вступ. ст. Е. М. Юхименко. М., 2012.