“The second collector of all the Russian lands” (according to Ivan Timofeev), the famous statesman Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, was an outstanding writer of his time. His works, especially his “epistles”, can be placed on a par with the largest monuments of ancient Russian literature.

To this day, not a single collection of works by Ivan the Terrible has survived - neither from the 16th century, nor from subsequent ones centuries. The publication of the series for the first time combines works of the epistolary heritage of Ivan IV (1530-1584), which are of interest as monuments of literature: the First Epistle to Kurbsky (according to the Pogodinsky list and the list of the Archaeographic Commission, which was not taken into account by previous publishers due to their defects), messages to the Queen of England Elizabeth, Swedish King Johann III, Basil Gryazny and others. The “Archaeographic Review...” contains the text of Andrei Kurbsky’s first message to Ivan the Terrible according to the Pogodinsky list (pp. 534-536). The first message of Ivan the Terrible to Kurbsky was again published in a series in 1979, taking into account all the identified lists, in the publication “Correspondence of Ivan the Terrible with Andrei Kurbsky” (see No. 247). The book consists of two main parts. The first part represents the texts of Ivan the Terrible's messages in Old Russian, the second is a translation of the messages made by Y. S. Lurie. The book is intended for students of higher educational institutions, teachers, as well as those engaged in in-depth study of Russian history. The text of Ivan the Terrible’s message to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was prepared for publication by D.S. Likhachev, the text of the remaining messages is Ya.S. Lurie. CONTENTS: TEXT (Prepared for printing by D.S. Likhachev and Y.S. Lurie) Messages of Ivan the Terrible (7). First message to Kurbsky (1564) (9). Pogodinsky list with continuation according to the list of the Archaeographic Commission (9). Text of “Kurbsky's collections” (71). Brief edition (124). Message to Queen Elizabeth of England (1570) (139). First message to the Swedish king Johann III (1572) (144). Second message to the Swedish king Johann III (1573) (148 Message to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (1573) (162). Message to Vasily Gryazny (1574) (193). Message to Simeon Bekbulatovich (1575) (195). Message to Polubensky (1577) (197). Message to Jan Chodkevich (1577) (205).Second message to Kurbsky (1577) (208).Message to Teterin (1577) (212).Message to the Polish king Stefan Batory (1581) (213).Messages on behalf of the boyars (239).Message to Sigismund II Augustus on behalf of I.D.Belsky (1567) (241).Message to Gr.Khodkevich on behalf of Belsky (247).Message to Sigismund II Augustus on behalf of I.F.Mstislavsky. (1567) (249).Message to Gr. Khodkevich on behalf of Mstislavsky (255).Message to Sigismund II Augustus on behalf of M.I.Vorotynsky (1567) (257).Message to Gr.Khodkevich on behalf of Vorotynsky (265).Message to Sigismund II Augustus on behalf of I.P. Fedorov (1567) (274). Message to Gr. Khodkevich on behalf of Fedorov (275). TRANSLATION (Ya. S. Lurie) Messages of Ivan the Terrible (281). First message to Kurbsky (1564) (283) .Message to Queen Elizabeth of England (1570) (329). First message to the Swedish King Johann III (1572) (334). Second message to the Swedish King Johann III (1573) (337). Message to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (1573) (351) .Message Vasily Gryazny (1574) (370). Message to Simeon Bekbulatovich (1575) (372). Message to Polubensky (1577) (374). Message to Jan Chodkevich (1577) (382). Second message to Kurbsky (1577) (385). Message to Teterin (1577) (389). Message to the Polish king Stefan Batory (1581) (390). Messages on behalf of the boyars (415). Message to Sigismund II Augustus on behalf of I.D. Belsky (1567) (417). Message to Gr. Chodkiewicz from named after Velsky (423). Message to Sigismund II Augustus on behalf of I.F. Mstislavsky (1567) (425). Message to Sigismund II Augustus on behalf of M.I. Vorotynsky (1567) (428). Message to Gr. Khodkevich on behalf of Vorotynsky ( 434).Message to Sigismund II Augustus on behalf of I.P.Fedorov (1567) (442).Message to Gr.Khodkevich on behalf of Fedorov (443).APPENDICES:Afterword. (V.P.Adrianova-Peretz) (449).Ivan the Terrible is a writer. (D.S. Likhachev) (452). Issues of foreign and domestic policy in the messages of Ivan IV. (Y.S. Lurie) (468). Archaeographic review of the messages of Ivan the Terrible. (Compiled by D.S. Likhachev and Y.S. Lurie) (520). Discrepancies. (Prepared for publication by D.S. Likhachev and Y.S. Lurie) (577). Comments. (Compiled by Y.S. Lurie) (583). Geographical index (677). Name index (687). List of illustrations (711).