Leo. Mesrop Mashtots, 1962. In Armenian.

Լեո [Առաքել Բաբախանյան]
Մեսրոպ Մաշտոց.
Երևան : Երևանի Պետական Համալսարանի Հրատարակչություն (ԵՊՀ), 1962:
219 էջ : դիմանկար ; 18 սմ: Մայრი հրատարակչական կազմ: Տպաքանակ՝ 15 000:
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Leo [Arakel Babakhanyan].
Mesrop Mashtots.
Yerevan: Yerevan State University Press (YSU), 1962.
219 pp.: port. ; 18 cm. Hardcover. Edition of 15,000 copies. In Armenian.

This 1962 monograph is a fundamental work by the prolific Armenian historian, writer, and public figure Arakel Babakhanyan, better known by his pen name Leo (1860–1932). Published posthumously by Yerevan State University, the text provides a deep dive into the internal logic of the Golden Age of Armenian literature, including the arrangement of the cultural and political circumstances that led to the creation of the Armenian alphabet in 405 AD. Leo’s study goes beyond a simple biography of Saint Mesrop Mashtots; it offers a rigorous historical analysis of the struggle for Armenian spiritual and linguistic independence against the encroaching influence of the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires.
The volume serves as a critical historical bridge, connecting the early medieval period with the 20th-century academic traditions of the Armenian SSR. Across its 219 pages, Leo examines Mashtots’s missionary work, his collaboration with Sahak Parthev, and the monumental task of translating the Bible, which laid the foundation for the Armenian national identity. Published in a compact 18 cm hardcover format with a print run of 15,000 copies, this edition was a key part of the 1,600th-anniversary commemorations of Mashtots’s birth celebrated during the 1960s. For bibliophiles, Armenologists, and collectors of historical biographies, this 1962 Yerevan imprint remains a vital primary source, documenting the scholarly legacy of one of Armenia's greatest historians as he interprets the life of the nation's most revered enlightener.