Co za rozum zamyka w sobie ta księga… Rama wydawnicza druków cerkiewnych jako źródło wiedzy o księdze

Preliminaries and back matter elements introduce recipient in the world of book. In the paper on the example of selected oktoechos printed in the seventeenth century in metropolitanate of Kiev, we try to show that they transmitted the most important, brief metatextual information. Authors of prefaces, dedications, epigraphs and sometimes also afterwords usually motivated their decision to edit a title. A cognitive function of this information is important but it must be emphasized that they served primarily to build the authority of books, to demonstrate importance of hymns in the religious life of the community. They tutored and formed the Christian recipient, encouraging the acquisition and zealous use of valuable spiritual source of prayer and living faith.