Novgorod First Chronicle

The Novgorod First Chronicle (Russian: Новгородская первая летопись, romanized: Novgorodskaia pervaia letopis’, commonly abbreviated as NPL) or The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016–1471 is the oldest extant Rus' chronicle of the Novgorod Republic. Written in Old East Slavic, it reflects a literary tradition about Kievan Rus' which differs from the Primary Chronicle. The later editions of the chronicle reflect the lost Primary Kievan Code (Начальный Киевский свод) of the late 11th century, which contained information not present in the later Primary Chronicle.

The earliest extant copy of the NPL is the so-called Synod Scroll (Sinodal'nyy), dated to the second half of the 13th century. First printed in 1841, it is currently preserved in the State Historical Museum. It is the earliest known manuscript of a major Old East Slavic chronicle, predating the Laurentian Codex of the Primary Chronicle by almost a century. In the 14th century, the Synod Scroll was continued by the monks of the Yuriev Monastery in Novgorod. Other important copies of the Novgorod First Chronicle include the Academic Scroll (Akademicheskii) and Commission Scroll (Komissionnyy), both dating to the 1440s, and the Tolstoi (Tolstovoi) copy. This "Younger Redaction" contains entries from the year 854 up to 1447.