Extensive record of St Petersburg at the end of its first century

GEORGI, Johann Gottlieb

Versuch einer Beschreibung der Russisch Kayserl. Residenzstadt St. Petersburg
Riga, Johann Friederich Hartknoch, 1793. £1,500

Crisp, attractive example of this important and very detailed description of the Russian northern capital and its region. Complete with both maps, on thick paper.

Read More

Read More
South-east Ukraine in bold colours

SCHLATTER, Daniel

Bruchstücke aus einigen Reisen nach dem Südlichen Russland, in den Jahren 1822 bis 1828
Wegelin & Kätzer for Hubner & Co., St. Gallen, 1830. £850

First edition of this account of the area comprised between Perekop and Mariopol, on the shores of the Sea of Azov; with a particular focus on the nomadic Nogai Tatars, and the local German colonies. Complete, with the fine plates here in bright, bold original watercolours.

Read More

Read More
More than 100 Russian éminences grises

[HELBIG, Georg Adolf Wilhelm von, attrib.]

Russische Günstlinge
J. G. Gotta, Tübingen, 1809. £200

From Peter to Catherine, an interesting history of the right-hand men close to the Tsar. First edition; the text was partly censored in Russia up to the 20th century.

Read More

Read More
The Russian Venice after 90 years

STORCH Heinrich and Daniel CHODOWIECKI (engr.)

Gemaehlde von St. Petersburg
Langhoff, Berlin, for Hartknoch, Riga, 1794. £750

First edition of this important, wide-ranging and intelligent account of St. Petersburg at the end of Catherine the Great's reign. Ucnommon, especially with all plates. This copy fresh and crisp internally.

Read More

Read More
Important and very rare first German edition - in contemporary vellum

LOMONOSSOW, Michael [Mikhail LOMONOSOV] and Johann Lorenz STAVENHAGEN (translator)

Russische Grammatick
Skt. Peterburg, Kaiserl. Academie der Wissenschafften, 1764. £2,950

Attractive example of this celebrated, landmark grammar of the Russian language, here in its important first German translation, and the first foreign translation overall. No copies traced at auction in the last 40 years, and only 5 in libraries (1 only in USA).

Read More

Read More
The first Russian steamboat - produced by a Scotsman

[BAIRD, Charles] – SUHR, Peter (artist, attrib. to)

Das St. Petersburger Dampfschiff [in pencil] [The St. Petersburg Steamboat]
[possibly Arnz, Düsseldorf, 1830s]. £1,500

Large representation of this innovative boat, one of the first passengers steamboats in the world with regular sea voyages. Very rare lithograph, before the letter and with contemporary hand-colouring, with no other copies traced in institutions.

Read More

Read More
Chinese tea in Pushkin's Russia

[GASTRONOMY]

Preis-courant neuerhaltener, ausgesuchter, bester Chinesischer Thee die zu haben sind in den Magazinen der Kaufmanns Gregorius Marinin, in St. Petersburg
[Skt. Peterburg], 1843. £2,750

Extremely rare broadside boasting "the all-best" teas from China available at a merchant's in St. Petersburg. The poster contains much interesting information and is illustrated with many Asian scenes. Very fragile but in very good condition.

Read More

Read More
Poems inscribed to Pushkin's granddaughter

V. W. [ie. Wilhelm van der VILET]

Nachbildungen Russischer Originale
Bernstein, Berlin, 1905. £975

Imperial copy of this scarce anthology of Russian poems in a German translation, inscribed to a Grand Duchess of Russia and granddaughter of Russia's greatest poet. Acquired from the Grand Duke's descent.

Read More

Read More
Tender Embraces in Marriage - or Pastime with Venal Mistresses? Fine copy of a famous rarity

[ZIDE, Iogann Khristoforovich [Johann Christian SIEDE] and Gleb GROMOV (translator)]

Nezhnyia obiatiia v brake i potekhi s liubovnitsami (prodazhnymi) izobrazheny i sravneny pravdoliubom [Tender Embraces in Marriage and Pastime with (Venal) Mistresses, Depicted and Compared by a Truth Seeker]
Shnor, Skt. Peterburg, [1798]. £9,500

A risqué book for Russian readers of the 1800s onwards, celebrated as a rarity by many bibliographers. A lovely copy of the first edition, in contemporary binding and fine condition.

Read More

Read More
Partying in late 18th-c. Russia

GEISSLER, [Christian Gottfried Heinrich], J.G. GRUBER and J. RICHTER

Russische Volke-Vergnügungen [Russian Folk Amusements]
Leipzig, Im Industrie Comptoir, [1801]. £5,750

Very rare large-format plates in striking colours, by a master of the genre. Last copy traced on the market: in 1931, incomplete.

Read More

Read More
Russia and Saint Petersburg in Gogol's time

KOHL, J[ohann] G[eorg]

Petersburg in Bildern und Skizzen
Dresden und Leipzig, Arnold, 1841. £425

Attractive example of this unusually wide-ranging description of Russia and its northern capital, from food to libraries and many other subject matters. First edition, with its fine folding map of the city.

Read More

Read More
The first significant German-Russian dictionary

WEISMANN, Erich and others

Teutsch lateinisch und Russisches Lexicon, Samt Denen Anfangs-Gründen der Rußischen Sprache. Nemetsko-Latinskii i Ruskii Leksikon kupno s pervymi nachalami ruskago iazyka
Skt. Petersburg, Kayserl. Academie der Wissenschaften, 1731. £4,500

Fresh example of this rare, imposing and early German-Latin-Russian dictionary, one of only 11 Russian works printed in Russia that year. One of the earliest works in German printed in Russia.

Read More

Read More
From amber mining to sable hunting on ski

BRAND, Johann Arnold von

Reysen durch die Marck Brandenburg, Preussen, Churland, Liefland, Peßcovien, Groß-Naugardien, Tweerien und Moskovien […] anbey Eine Seltsame und sehr Anmerckliche Beschreibung von Siberien […]
Duisburg, Johannes Sas, for Jacob von Wesel, Wesel, 1702. £4,250

A very rich and overlooked 17th-c. travel account, with quantity of original material on Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Siberia, including music and songs in the vernacular, as well as many engraved plates, especially on amber mining, sable hunting on ski and Easter celebrations in Moscow. A rare Rossica.

Read More

Read More
"Die Reise um die Welt ohne Geld"

POHLIG, Emil

Zu Fuss: Kreuz und Quer Durchs das Ganze Russische Reich [On Foot: Crisscrossing the Whole Russian Empire]
[Germany and Russia, ca. 1897-1903]. £1,250

Unusual extensive manuscript travel account of a German going through Russia and recording his many observations - richly illustrated with a variety of added material. Only partly published in contemporary newspapers.

Read More

Read More
From shamanism to planting seeds in Kamchatka

GEORGI, Johann Gottlieb

Merkwürdigkeiten verschiedener unbekannten Völker des Russischen Reichs
Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1777. £1,750

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.

Read More

Read More
German populations in Ukraine and Russia

Atlas der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Gemeinen [sic] in Russland
Kaiserl. Akad. der Wissenschaften, St Petersburg, 1855. £1,850

The Russian Germans mapped: very rare early statistical atlas of these famous communities.

Read More

Read More
Central Europe's oldest spa town in colour

[HOSER, Joseph Carl Eduard]

Beschreibung von Teplitz in Böhmen
Prag, J.G. Calve, 1798. £1,250

A scarce description of Central Europe's oldest spa town, now in Czech Republic, with a fine double-page view with original hand-colour. Attractive example with royal provenance.

Read More

Read More
18th-c. Russian explained in French and German

NORDSTET, Ivan

Rossiiskii, s nemetskim i frantsuzskim perevodami, slovar [Russian Dictionary, with German and French Translations]
Skt. Peterburg, Shnor, 1780 i 1782. £1,000

A 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

Read More
do you have a question about this item?

If you would like more information on this item, or if you have a similar item you would like to know more about, please contact us via the short form here.

    X