French enlightenment in Russia

MONTESKE [MONTESQUIEU, Charles Louis de]

Pisma persidskiia [Lettres persanes]
£3,750

MONTESKE [MONTESQUIEU, Charles Louis de], Pisma persidskiia [Lettres persanes]Rare first illustrated edition of the 'Lettres persanes' in Russian, in contemporary binding with lovely Russian endpapers. Read More

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A rare example of Russian text of the Enlightenment

[CATHERINE II, the Great]

Nakaz [...] dannyi komissii o sochinenii proekta novogo ulozheniia.

Instruction [...] pour la commission chargee de dresser le projet d'un nouveau code de loix.

Instruction fúr die zu Verfertigung des Entwurfs zu einem neuen Gesetz-Buche verordnete Commission.

Instrvctio [...] coetvi convocato ad conficiendam ideam novi legvm codicis

£3,950

[CATHERINE II, the Great], Nakaz [...] dannyi komissii o sochinenii proekta novogo ulozheniia.

Instruction [...] pour la commission chargee de dresser le projet d'un nouveau code de loix.

Instruction fúr die zu Verfertigung des Entwurfs zu einem neuen Gesetz-Buche verordnete Commission.

Instrvctio [...] coetvi convocato ad conficiendam ideam novi legvm codicisA lovely example of this famous edition of Catherine's celebrated Great Instructions, much inspired by important European philosophers of the Englightenment. Read More

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Important early book for Russian children - with a sewn translation label

KAMPE [CAMPE, Joachim Heinrich; and Aleksandr Semenovich SHISHKOV, translator]

Detskaia biblioteka, izdannaia na nemetskom iazyke gospodinom Kampe, a s onago perevedena g. ***
£3,950

KAMPE [CAMPE, Joachim Heinrich; and Aleksandr Semenovich SHISHKOV, translator], Detskaia biblioteka, izdannaia na nemetskom iazyke gospodinom Kampe, a s onago perevedena g. ***More than a translation, an original adaptation, dedicated to Princess Dahskova, the first woman head of an Academy of Sciences and first female member of the American Philosophical Society. A very rare early edition of this important book for Russian children - and a lovely example with a sewn translation label! Read More

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From Catherine the Great's library

FIDLER, Konstantin [also FIEDLER]

Slovo pokhvalnoe velikomu gosudariu Borisu Fedorovichu Godunovu
£5,750

FIDLER, Konstantin [also FIEDLER], Slovo pokhvalnoe velikomu gosudariu Borisu Fedorovichu GodunovuVery rare first edition in Russian of this praise of Boris Godunov, with great and unusual provenance: Catherine the Great and Smirdin's famous lending library. A lovely example. Read More

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One of the greatest museums of Russia

LOUKOMSKI [LUKOMSKII] Georgii Krestsenovich

Le Kreml (Kremlin) de Moscou. Ses cathédrales, ses palais et ses trésors d'art
£250

LOUKOMSKI [LUKOMSKII] Georgii Krestsenovich, Le Kreml (Kremlin) de Moscou. Ses cathédrales, ses palais et ses trésors d'artA complete example of this impressive photographic survey of the Kremlin and its fantastic museums. Read More

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18th-c. Russian explained in French and German

NORDSTET, Ivan

Rossiiskii, s nemetskim i frantsuzskim perevodami, slovar
£1,000

NORDSTET, Ivan, Rossiiskii, s nemetskim i frantsuzskim perevodami, slovarA thick and uncommon dictionary explaning in German and French the Russian language used during Catherine the Great. A very good copy in contemporary binding. Read More

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All plates hand-coloured

BRETON [de la MARTINIERE, Jean-Baptiste Joseph]

La Russie, ou mœurs, usages et costumes des habitants de toutes les provinces de cet empire
£2,950

BRETON [de la MARTINIERE, Jean-Baptiste Joseph], La Russie, ou mœurs, usages et costumes des habitants de toutes les provinces de cet empireThe 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. Read More

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Some of the most recognisable buildings of St. Petersburg

THOMAS de THOMON, Jean-François

Recueil des plans et façades des principaux monumens construits à Saint Pétersbourg et dans les différentes provinces de l'Empire de Russie
£2,250

THOMAS de THOMON, Jean-François, Recueil des plans et façades des principaux monumens construits à Saint Pétersbourg et dans les différentes provinces de l'Empire de RussieScarce architectural work by one of the leading architects of the Russian empire under Tsar Paul 1st, and responsible for some of the most famous buildings in St. Petersburg and Odessa. Read More

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Out of stock
SOLD
Pandemic in Catherine's Russia

SHAFONSKII, Afanasiy Filimonovich

Opisanie morovoi iazvy…

SHAFONSKII, Afanasiy Filimonovich, Opisanie morovoi iazvy…A rare case of a Russian 18th-c. book in Mariia Fedorovna's library: the first Russian scientific work on the plague. An exceptional copy of a major work. Read More

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Out of stock
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Beyond the Baikal and back

[PALLAS, Peter Simon]

Voyages en Sibérie, extraits de journaux de divers savans voyageurs. Ornés de Planches & cartes

[PALLAS, Peter Simon], Voyages en Sibérie, extraits de journaux de divers savans voyageurs. Ornés de Planches & cartesThe 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. Read More

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Catherine the Great's business in the Black Sea and the Caucasus

Traktat o torgovle mezhdu rossiiskoiu imperieiu i portoiu ottomanskoiu

, Traktat o torgovle mezhdu rossiiskoiu imperieiu i portoiu ottomanskoiuUncommon treatise between Catherine's Russia and the Ottoman Empire, and inbetween two Russo-Turkish wars of the 18th century. Read More

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Out of stock
SOLD
Superstitions from Moscovia to the Pacific

CHULKOV, Mikhail Dmitrievich

Slovar Russkikh sueverii

CHULKOV, Mikhail Dmitrievich, Slovar Russkikh sueveriiAn 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. Read More

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Forbidden texts with provenance marks

MIKHAILOV, Kozma Afanasievich and other authors

[A Sammelband of Five Manuscript Works]

MIKHAILOV, Kozma Afanasievich and other authors, [A Sammelband of Five Manuscript Works]Very rare manuscript collection of theological and philosophical texts, including some forbidden by Catherine the Great's government in the 1780s. Very well preserved in its contemporary binding. With a poem authored most likely by the compiler of the manuscript and dedicated to the opening of the bronze horseman, the celebrated monument to Peter the Great inaugurated by Catherine in St. Petersburg. Read More

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An English best-seller in 18th-c. Russia

HERVEY, James, and Elizaveta NILOVA (transl.)

Nadgrobnyia razmyshlenia

HERVEY, James, and Elizaveta NILOVA (transl.), Nadgrobnyia razmyshleniaFirst Russian edition of an English 'graveyard' literary work: by a female translator, dedicated to a woman, and later confiscated by Catherine the Great. Very rare. Read More

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The Tsar carries out God's will on earth

PLATON [Petr LEVSHIN, later Metropolitan of Moscow]

Pravoslavnoe uchenie ili sokhrashchennaia khristianskaia bogosloviia, dlia Ego Imperatorskago Vysochestva … Tsesarevicha i Velikago Kniazia Pavla Petrovich..

PLATON [Petr LEVSHIN, later Metropolitan of Moscow], Pravoslavnoe uchenie ili sokhrashchennaia khristianskaia bogosloviia, dlia Ego Imperatorskago Vysochestva … Tsesarevicha i Velikago Kniazia Pavla Petrovich..First edition of this Catechism for Tsarevich Pavel, the "first textbook of Orthodox theology in Russia" by an important religious figure of 18th-c. Russia, whom Voltaire called "the Russian Plato". Very rare: no copy at auction and only 3 copies in libraries outside Russia. Read More

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With patterned Russian endpapers

[D’AGOULT, Charles (Attrib.)]

Akh, kak vy glupy gospoda frantsuzy

[D'AGOULT, Charles (Attrib.)], Akh, kak vy glupy gospoda frantsuzyAttractive example of this scarce anti-revolutionary tract, published when Catherine the Great was distancing herself from some consequences of the French philosophers' thoughts. In contemporary binding ith zig-zag Russian endpapers. Read More

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