The book is dedicated to the decor of handwritten books of Veliky Novgorod of the 15th century, the heyday of Russian artistic culture. Miniatures and ornamental decoration of manuscripts of medieval Russia are much less known than icon painting and other types of art. Characteristics of works, interpretation of plots, identification of the evolution of style, history of book-writing workshops and works of masters, as well as color reproductions published for the first time give an idea of an important variety of Russian national culture in the Middle Ages.