About the Project

A patient and deliberately small editorial enterprise.

Origins

The Paterikon Project began in 2019 as an informal correspondence between three scholars — two trained in Byzantine studies, one in Syriac patristics — who shared a frustration that has become familiar to many in our field. Texts central to the Eastern Christian tradition were either available only in nineteenth-century editions whose textual basis is now superseded, or were untranslated into any modern European language, or were locked away in scholarly volumes that cost several hundred euros and circulated only among university libraries.

The Project does not propose to resolve this situation comprehensively. The major editorial series — Sources Chrétiennes, the CSEL, the Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca and Series Latina, the Patrologia Orientalis, and others — continue to produce volumes of the highest scholarly standard. We do not compete with them, and where we draw on their editions we acknowledge them gratefully.

Rather, the Project aims to make modest contributions in three particular forms:

1. Fresh English translations of texts where the only existing translation is in nineteenth-century English of a sort that is now difficult to read, or in a language other than English.
2. Annotated reading editions of works for which a critical text exists but no scholarly translation has been produced in the modern editorial idiom — that is, with a substantial introduction, footnotes addressing textual and theological questions, and a glossary of technical terms.
3. Partial critical editions of short works or homilies whose manuscript tradition is small enough to be addressed by a single editor over the course of a few years, and for which no critical edition currently exists.

Editorial principles

Our editorial work is governed by several principles that have emerged gradually from our practice. We state them here for the sake of transparency, and because they explain decisions readers may find unusual.

Textual fidelity over readability. Where we must choose, we choose fidelity. The Greek of Symeon the New Theologian is often grammatically unstable; the Syriac of Jacob of Serugh moves between registers in a way that resists smooth English. We do not smooth these textures. Where the original is difficult, the translation should also signal difficulty.

Apparatus, not commentary. Our footnotes address textual variants, lexical ambiguities, intertextual references (especially scriptural and patristic), and questions that bear on the constitution of the text. We do not write theological commentary in the apparatus. Readers seeking theological interpretation are referred to the secondary literature, which we cite where appropriate.

Slow pace. We do not work to a publication schedule. Texts are released as they are ready. The contributors are mostly affiliated with university departments and prepare editions in the time that remains after their primary research and teaching obligations. The catalogue will therefore appear, to a casual visitor, to be heavily populated by entries marked in preparation. This is a faithful representation of our work.

Open samples, closed library. A representative selection of completed editions is available to all visitors. The full library — which contains drafts in revision, working bibliographies, the editorial correspondence concerning particular textual decisions, and our internal review apparatus — is reserved to members. This is partly a matter of preserving the editorial conditions under which scholarly work proceeds; it is also a matter of sustaining the modest infrastructure of the Project.

Scope

The Project's interest is broadly the Eastern Christian textual tradition, with the present catalogue weighted toward four areas:

• The Greek Fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries, with particular attention to the Cappadocians, John Chrysostom, and Cyril of Alexandria.
• The ascetic and mystical literature of the seventh through fourteenth centuries — Maximus the Confessor, the Philokalia authors, Symeon the New Theologian, Nicholas Cabasilas, Gregory Palamas.
• Syriac homiletic and ascetic writers — Ephrem, Jacob of Serugh, Isaac of Nineveh.
• Slavonic translations of Greek sources, with particular attention to the textual history of works translated under Tsar Symeon of Bulgaria and the later Hesychast translations.

We do not at present include works of the Latin tradition, except where they bear directly on the textual history of an Eastern source. We hope eventually to extend the catalogue into Coptic, Armenian, and Ethiopian materials, but this is for the future and depends on the availability of qualified contributors.

What this site is not

The Project is not a publisher in the commercial sense, and we do not produce printed volumes. Several of our completed editions have subsequently been reissued by other publishers, with our permission and acknowledgement; this is welcome but is not our principal interest.

The Project is not a confessional or apologetic enterprise. Our contributors come from a range of confessional and non-confessional backgrounds, and the Project is not affiliated with any ecclesial body. Our concern is the texts and their transmission, not their reception in contemporary Christian life.

The Project does not host a forum, discussion board, or community space. We have no comments. Correspondence with editors concerning particular textual questions is welcome and can be directed to the email address in the footer.

How to support the Project

The Project is sustained primarily by membership fees. Individual and institutional membership rates, and the modest catalogue of supporter benefits, are described on the Membership page. The Project also accepts donations through a registered foundation in the Netherlands; please write to us for details.

Suggestions for texts that should be considered for inclusion in the catalogue are also welcome. We cannot take on every suggested project — most are beyond our capacity — but a thoughtful note about a neglected text is genuinely useful, and we maintain a list of texts under consideration for future editorial work.