Ivan the Terrible is one of the most striking and controversial figures in Russian history: he is known not only as a statesman whose rule was characterized by extreme cruelty, but also as a talented polemicist, theologian and philosopher. A man of fierce passions and outstanding abilities, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich left behind a rich book heritage. How did the most educated man of his time, the scribe Ivan Vasilyevich IV, and Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who drowned Novgorod in blood and killed his own son, coexist in one person? The testimony of contemporaries, often filled with gossip and myths, and sometimes simply biased, is unlikely to help understand what the true face of the first Russian autocrat was like. The answer can only be found by examining the vast written heritage of Tsar Ivan IV, part of which is presented in this publication.