Paper; 89 folios. Text in notragir, written in one column on 28 lines. Subtitles of texts in red bolorgir. Large decorative initials on the opening lines of text: the first lines of text are in magenta arkat’agir, the second in red bolorgir, the rest of the page in notragir. Numerous initials throughout the codex in red notragir capital letters.There are two sets of quire numbers. According to the original numbering, the codex consisted of 8 quires, but at least 8 leaves are missing at the beginning and others at the end of the book. The first numbered quire is on fol. 9v, designating it as quire 2. The remaining numbered quires have a varying number of leaves: no. 3 has fourteen, no. 4 has sixteen, nos. 5, 6, and 12 have twelve, and no. 7 has ten leaves. According to the second set of quire numbers, the original codex consisted of 14 numbered quires.
Text in exquisite notragir, written in one column of 18 lines. Subtitles and opening lines of text in bolorgir, and large erkat’agir initials throughout the codex. Twenty-nine quires of 8 leaves each, numbered with the letters of the Armenian alphabet written in bolorgir in the lower margin of the page.
Text in bolorgir, written in two columns. Columns separated by border lines in purple ink. Subtitles and other divisions throughout the codex in red ink. Index on fols. 267-276 is in minuscule notragir. Corrections of text in the margins in notragir. The codex has two sets of numbers. The book originally consisted of 560 pages numbered by the scribe with the letters of the Armenian alphabet, written in the left and right upper corners of the page The ten surviving folios of the codex are not numbered. The second set of numbers was done by Dr. Minasian at a time when the codex consisted of 278 folios. Since then however, fols. 1-4 have disappeared. Twenty-three quires numbered with the letters of the Armenian alphabet, written in large bolorgir in the lower margin of the page, mostly in black but occasionally also in red ink. The quires usually have gatherings of twelve leaves each. Because leaves are missing at the beginning, quire 1 has five and quire 2 has eleven leaves; quires 20 and 23 have eight leaves, and quire 22 has six.
The MS is a copy of the abridged version of "The Shield of Faith, Concerning the Orthodoxy of the Armenian Church" (Vahan havatoy ułłap῾aṙut῾ean Hayastaneayc῾ Yekełec῾voy), authored by the Venice Mekhitarist Father Mik῾ayēl Č’amčian (1738-1823). According to Ormanian, the original unabridged manuscript of this work, a copy of which he saw in the library of the Antonian Armenian Catholic monastic order at Constantinople, consisted of 924 handwritten pages (see Ormanian, 1816, Azgapatum, para. 2165). In this work, which was written during the years 1776-1816, Č’amčian endeavored to defend the "orthodoxy" of the Armenian church against Catholic Armenian charges that it had deviated from the truth. There were ten such charges, namely, that the Armenians: 1) reject the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon; 2)proclaim only one nature in Christ; 3)reject the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son; 4) hold an erroneous position toward life in the hereafter; 5) recite "Holy God" with the addition of "who were crucified for us"; 6) celebrate Christmas on January 6; 7)do not dilute the Eucharistic wine; 8) do not conform to the observance of the Roman church'es rules and commandments; 9) reject extreme unction; 10) reject the primacy of the Roman see. Discussing each of these accusations, Č’amčian concludes that the charges are groundless and that "there is no justification for calling the Armenians deviationists or heretics; rather, they must be recognized as orthodox".
Fragments of three different liturgical texts bound together. Each fragment is described separately as follows:Fragment I: Text in minuscule bolorgir, and initials throughout the text in red notragir capitals.Fragment II: Text in notragir, written in one column of 18 lines. Subtitles in red ink, and initials throughout the text in red notragir capitals. Musical notations on fols. 128-139v, 165v-201.Fragment III: Text in notragir, written in one column of 16 lines. Some subtitles in bolorgir and others in notragir in red ink, and initials in red notragir capitals.With few exceptions, the quires in the three fragments are not numbered.
Text in small bolorgir, written in one column of 22 lines. Subtitles in red bolorgir, and initials in red erkat’agir. Fols. 31-35 written in bolorgir by a different hand. Musical notations throughout the codex.Because folios are missing at the beginning and end of the book and there are many lacunae throughout the codex, the total number of quires and of the leaves in the gatherings cannot be determined. Only the following folios have quire numbers; quire 6 on fol. 33v; quire 7 on fol. 34; quire 14 on fol. 93v; first page of quire 15 on fol. 94; last page of quire 15 on fol. 109v; quire 16 on fol. 122v. These quires are numbered with the letters of the Armenian alphabet written in bolorgir in the lower margin of the page.
Text in large bolorgir in black ink, written in two columns of 19-21 lines. Initials and first lines of pericopes in large erkat'agir in red ink. Eusebian section numbers in margins against text; concordance numbers in lower margins.According to the principal colophon (fols. 218v-219), the MS was written by the priest Astuacatur, during the pontificate of Catholicos Zak'aria I (Sefedinian, 1296-1327), of the see if Aghtamar. Although the book was initally commissioned by the priests Karapet and Hayrapet, it was actually acquired by Hayrapet. Although the book's okace if execution is unknown, it can perhaps safely be assumed that it was written in teh region of Lake Van.