[OLD BELIEVERS] – BLINOV, Ivan Gavrilovich (scribe)
Zhitie Feodora Studita [The Life of Feodor Studit]
Beautiful illuminated manuscript produced by one of the best scribes of the early 20th-century Russia; very fresh and in its original binding.
The great German polymath in an uncommon lifetime edition, often overlooked. A pleasant example of these accounts of Pallas' wide-ranging descriptions of Western and Central Siberia.
OBRUCHEV, Sergei Vladimirovich
V nevedomykh gorakh Iakutii [In the Unknown Mountains of Yakutia]
First edition of this important expedition exploring the last unknown region of Russia, and discovering there an impressive mountain: the Chersky Range. Complete with illustrations and the first map of the area, in north-east Siberia.
Uncommon treatise between Catherine's Russia and the Ottoman Empire, and inbetween two Russo-Turkish wars of the 18th century.
An important and very rare work on superstitions and beliefs of the peoples of the Russian empire under Catherine the Great. With captivating paragraphs and descriptions. An attractive example of the first edition.
A rare St. Petersburg imprint, complete with exotic views and maps: first edition of these 4 volumes giving a taste of Pushkin's Russia for German-speaking readers. From St. Petersburg to Petrozavodsk, the Urals and the extreme north-eastern Siberia, through Russian literature, the Empress Maria Fedorovna and the famous fair of Nizhnii-Novgorod.
An excellent example of this scarce émigré publication on the pre-Revolution Siberian military school. A fine Californian production, richly illustrated.
A lovely group of rare Russian photographs, showing Northern indigenous peoples and local trades by one of the main photographers of the Russian North, and future mayor of Arkhangelsk.
Fine example, in full red morocco, of the account of this official American mission to Russia, just 6 months before the sale of Alaska.
Details of the processes of the coronation of the last Russian tsar, together with the list of important foreign attendees - including one volume more unusually luxuriously bound in full soft red calf gilt.
Great denunciation of the catastrophy for Russia of the war against Japan. A pre-revolutionary publication banned in tsarist Russia.
First edition of Kruzenshtern's important study of North Pacific languages, in a superb, very unusual example: very crisp, uncut, in plain temporary wrappers and printed on thicker woven paper. We were unable to trace other such large-paper copies. A rare book on the market: only two copies at auction.
The preferred fully hand-coloured version of this lovely work on Russian costume and customs, here in a decorative binding. With 3 supplementary plates = 111 plates overall, with original colouring.
Saint Petersburg before Napoleon's campaign: a superb example in red morocco, very fresh and exempt of any foxing, of the expanded second edition (published the year of Waterloo), containing sixteen more letters in addition to the six published in the original edition of 1812. A scarce Italian book on Russia.
IAZYKOV, Dmitrii Ivanovich (editor and translator)
Sobranie puteshestvii k tataram i drugim vostochnim narodam, v XIII, XIV i XV stoletiakh [Collection of Travels to the Tartars and Other Eastern Peoples in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries]
A witness of the Russian interest in the eastern parts of its empire and its neighbours. Includes Carpini's 13th-c. travel account, thought to be the earliest significant Western description of Northern and Central Asia, Rus, and the regions of the Mongol dominion. A fresh example of the rare first edition.