Irina Gogonaia
PhD
Korneli Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Tbilisi, Georgia
ORCID: 0000-0002-6540-2161
irinagogonaia@manuscript.ge
Lela Shatirishvili
PhD
Korneli Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Tbilisi, Georgia
ORCID: 0000-0002-7846-2630
Helensha30@yahoo.com
About several manuscripts preserved in the former collection of the Historical-Ethnographic Society of the National Centre of Manuscripts (H Fund)
At the beginning of the 20th century, in 1907, a Historical-Ethnographic Society was established in Georgia, the purpose of which was to search, collect and study manuscripts, along with historical, archaeological, anthropological, literary and ethnographic samples.
The former collection of the Historical-Ethnographic Society of the National Centre of Manuscripts (H Fund) contains several manuscripts: H 293, H 414, H 916, H 2156, H 2217, which represent collections copied in different eras, mainly containing medical, veterinary, and natural science material.
It is worth noting that the manuscript H 293 is a culinary work, the field attribution of which was expanded during the research process. The culinary recipes turned out to be interesting from the point of view of chemical-practical knowledge, since they provide the technology for making/preparing alcoholic sweet drinks - liqueurs and ratafia. Also, during the research process, the primary source of the mentioned manuscript - H 293 - was identified, namely, the culinary book “Book of the Best Recipes for Making Sweets, Sugars, and Beverages” that was published in St. Petersburg in 1818 by Bagrat Batonishvili (1776-1841), the son of the last king of Kartli-Kakheti, Giorgi XII.
Thematic collections H 916, H 2156, H 2217 include information about infectious diseases (smallpox), the methodology of treating the sick in ancient Georgia, and veterinary knowledge.
In addition, if the collections H 293, H 916, H 2156, H 2217 are thematic, the collection H 414 is mixed and, along with veterinary knowledge, includes folk treatment methods, as well as readings from the euchologion.
Keywords: Georgian Historical-Ethnographic Society, NCM (National Centre of Manuscripts) H Fund, manuscript, a culinary work, liqueur, ratafia, Bagrat Batonishvili, thematic collections, History of chemistry, History of veterinary"