Gospel cover, bound in crimson velvet.

The binding consists of two Gospel covers with a spine. The base is wooden, covered in crimson velvet. On the front of the top cover are corner-pieces depicting the Evangelists and their symbols, and at the center an oval cartouche depicting the Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb (left and right, respectively). The holy martyrs are shown full-length, in a three-quarter turn toward one another. They wear zhupans, belted, and mantles; on their heads are mitre-crowns, with round halos around their heads. Boris has a small beard and mustache, supports a spear with his left hand, and holds his right hand to his chest. Gleb has long hair; in his right hand he holds a cross and a palm branch, and in his left a raised sword. To the left and right of the saints are the Church Slavonic inscriptions: "St. Martyr Boris" and "St. Martyr Gleb."

On the reverse of the back cover are four ball-shaped feet and shaped fragments of clasps with hinged loops.

The inside of the binding is lined with white paper.

The Gospel binding belonged to the pre-war (pre-1941) part of the collection of the Historical Museum. It was evacuated in 1941 and returned to Kharkiv in November 1944.

Note: the Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb, whose memory the Orthodox Church honors on August 6, were sons of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Volodymyr. They were innocently murdered on the orders of their elder brother Sviatopolk.