Предисловие к «Cофийскому временнику» (Киевскому Начальному своду): текст, язык, источники

The article presents a textological investigation of the Introduction to the Younger recension of the Novgorod First Chronicle, also preserved in the Novgorod-Sophia group of chronicles. A comparison of extant copies has led to a new reconstruction of the archetype dated to the early 15th century. A detailed philological commentary of the reconstructed text reveals numerous archaisms in its language and clear indications of its primacy with respect to the Povest’ vremennykh let. These conclusions support A. A. Shakhmatov’s theory identifying this text as the Introduction to the Kievan Nachalnyi Svod (Initial Chronical Compilation) of the 1090s.