PY Rare Books

ABOUT py rare books

Our specialities cover everything related to the former Russian Empire and its neighbouring regions, from Eastern Europe to Alaska, through the Caucasus and Central Asia – travel, exploration, history, literature, arts, avant-garde etc., in emigration too. Occasionally other works which take our fancy. We focus on rare editions and quality copies, without the usual significant condition issues often met with Russian books.

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Image for PETREJUS, P. Regni Muschovitici sciographia. First edition, Stockholm, 1614-15. #2

Important early eyewitness account of Russia at a key moment

PETREJUS, Petrus

Regni Muschovitici sciographia. Thet är: een wiss och egenteligh beskriffning om Rydzland [History of the Grand Duchy of Muscovy. That is, a knowledgeable and accurate description of Russia]

£2,750

PETREJUS, Petrus, Regni Muschovitici sciographia. Thet är: een wiss och egenteligh beskriffning om Rydzland

Wide-ranging observations on Russia under and after Ivan the Terrible, including one of the first accounts of Siberian exile. The Macclesfield copy of the first edition.

Image for ODERBORN, P. Wunderbare...Geschichte...Joan Basilidis. Gorlitz, 1596. #2

The birth of Ivan the Terrible's literary features

ODERBORN, Paul

Wunderbare, Erschreckliche, Unerhörte Geschichte, und wahrhaffte Historien: Nemlich, des nechst gewesenen Großfürsten in der Moschkaw Joan Basilidis, (auff ire Sprach Iwan Basilowitz genandt) Leben [Unusual, Terrifying, Extraordinary Story and Realistic Tales: Namely, the Life of Recently Deceased Grand Duke of Moscow Joan Basilidis (Called Ivan Vasilievich in Their Language)]

£4,250

ODERBORN, Paul, Wunderbare, Erschreckliche, Unerhörte Geschichte, und wahrhaffte Historien: Nemlich, des nechst gewesenen Großfürsten in der Moschkaw Joan Basilidis, (auff ire Sprach Iwan Basilowitz genandt) Leben

A rare but important 'russica' title, being the first biography of Ivan the Terrible. Pleasant example of an early edition.

Image for POSSEVINO, A. Moscovia. Cologne, 1587. #2

Ivan the Terrible's Russia

POSSEVINO, Antonio

Moscovia, et alia opera, de statu huius seculi, adversus Catholicae Ecclesiae hostes. Nunc primo in unum volumen collecta, atq. ab ipsomet auctore emendate & aucta

£3,250

POSSEVINO, Antonio, Moscovia, et alia opera, de statu huius seculi, adversus Catholicae Ecclesiae hostes. Nunc primo in unum volumen collecta, atq. ab ipsomet auctore emendate & aucta

Early description of Eastern Europe, Poland, the Baltic regions, and Russia/Muscovy, by a Jesuit legate of the Pope: an important and famous book on late 16th-c. Russia.

Image for GEORGI, J.G. Merkwürdigkeiten verschiedener unbekannten Völker des Russischen Reichs. 1777, First edition. #2

From shamanism to planting seeds in Kamchatka

GEORGI, Johann Gottlieb

Merkwürdigkeiten verschiedener unbekannten Völker des Russischen Reichs

£1,750

GEORGI, Johann Gottlieb, Merkwürdigkeiten verschiedener unbekannten Völker des Russischen Reichs

Some of the first systematic ethnographic observations of peoples of Russia, here focusing on Siberian and Far Eastern peoples. An edition rarely found, with plates and a map. Lovely copy in fine condition.

Image for DICKENS - PLESHCHEEV, first 'Life of Dickens' in Russian, first book edition. #2

Dickens' life for Russian readers

[DICKENS] – PLESHCHEEV, Aleksei Nikolaevich

Zhizn Dikkensa [The Life of Dickens]

£1,450

[DICKENS] - PLESHCHEEV, Aleksei Nikolaevich, Zhizn Dikkensa

Rare first significant biography of the great Victorian author in Russian, written by an active (and politically engaged) man of letters. First book edition. Apparently no copy in Britain, only at the NYPL and in Sidney outside Russia.