Paper; 74 folios, plus unnumbered folios with text in front; 27x21 cm. (written surface area: 23x17 cm.). Text in modern šełagir, written in one column of 26 lines. Notebook composed of sheets of "David Bros. & Co." loose-leaf paper bound together.Contents: The codex is a "Collection of Poems," composed mostly by G. M. George in Armenian, Persian, and English. Many of these poems deal with the theme of love and are addressed to his wife, Aruseak; some are vulgar and even obscene. Additionally, there are lyrics composed by Persian-Armenian minstrels, Łul Yovhannēs and Amir Ōłli, whose poems are reproduced in this codex from other, unnamed sources.
Most of the text written in bolorgir, the remainder (fols. 6-9, 20, 27-29v, 35v-36, 38-39) in notragir, text written in one column of 20-23 lines. Subtitles in red bolorgir, or notragir, and initials mostly in red erkat’agir.
Script: bolorgir. Scribe and place of copy: unknown. Illustrations: headpieces, marginal ornaments and decorative initials. Binding: stamped leather over boards. Inscription on front cover, in English translation reads: "This book is in memory of the monk Parsam, son of the priest Paul."
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".
