The issue of information value of confessional statements as a historical source (on the basis of Moscow written sources, XVIIIth century)
Thе article covers the problem of analysis of confession books of the XVIII <sup>th</sup> century as the primary source. The author explores the information resources of the confession books, and general limits to take into account while working with them. Along with legislative base of the emergence of confession books, the special features of the realization of the law in daily life as well as the change of the form of the source since XVIII <sup>th</sup> century to 1860-s are retraced.