Tserents (Shishmanian, H.). Thoros of Levon (Toros Levoni), 1902. In Armenian.

Ծերենց (Յովսէփ Շիշմանեան): Թորոս Լեւոնի: Պատմական վէպ: / Երրորդ տպագրութիւն:
Տփխիս (Թիֆլիս) : Տպարան Մովսէս Վարդանեանցի, 1902:
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Tserents (Hovsep Shishmanian). Thoros of Levon (Toros Levoni): A Historical Novel. / Third edition.
Tiflis (Tbilisi) : Movses Vardanyantsi Publishing House, 1902.
307, 1 unnumbered page. Period hardcover, standard format. In Armenian.

This 1902 Tiflis edition is a significant surviving copy of the first historical novel in modern Armenian literature. Written by Hovsep Shishmanian (1822–1888), who wrote under the pseudonym Tserents, Thoros of Levon was originally published in 1877. This third edition, printed at the famous Movses Vardanyantsi press in Tiflis at the dawn of the 20th century, reflects the enduring popularity of Tserents' work during the Armenian national awakening.
The novel is set in the 12th century and chronicles the heroic struggle of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. It focuses on the life of Prince Thoros II (Thoros of Levon), who escaped Byzantine captivity to reclaim his ancestral lands and restore the sovereignty of the Rupenid dynasty. Tserents used the medium of the historical novel to inspire his contemporaries, drawing parallels between the medieval struggle for independence and the 19th-century Armenian liberation movement.
Tserents is considered a master of the genre, blending meticulous historical research with romanticized national ideals. His prose played a crucial role in shaping the modern Armenian national consciousness. The 1902 edition is particularly valued by collectors for its connection to the vibrant Armenian intellectual life of Tiflis, which was the cultural capital of Eastern Armenians during the Russian Imperial era.
As a pre-revolutionary publication with a limited survival rate, this volume is a bibliographical rarity. It is an essential acquisition for historians of Armenian literature, collectors of Armenica, and those interested in the development of the historical novel in the Near East.