RUSSKAYA SGOVORNAYA ZAPIS’ [RUSSIAN BETROTHAL AGREEMENT – MARRIAGE CONTRACT] Russia, second half of the 17th century, c. 1660-1690s

Manuscript private-law document on laid paper, written in Muscovite chancery cursive (skoropis’) in iron-gall ink. 42 x 15 cm. The document records the betrothal agreement concluded between Lavrenty Porshenets and Nikon Elizarov for the marriage of their children, Karp and Nastasya, setting out the terms of the dowry, the witnesses (‘poslukhi’) and a monetary penalty (‘zagovor’) of forty roubles. On the reverse, an additional certifying signature (‘rukoprikladstvo’) of a witness. In good condition. The characteristic parallel folds reflect the traditional way in which 17th-century Russian private deeds were kept – folded, in family document archives (‘gramotnitsy’) – and attest to the authentic use of the document in its own time. A rare example of a pre-Petrine Russian private marriage deed.