Account of 17th-c. Russia from a 'cabinet de lecture'

[COLLINS, Samuel]

Relation curieuse de l'estat present de la Russie
£2,000

[COLLINS, Samuel], Relation curieuse de l'estat present de la Russie

Great (if often negative) early account of pre-petrine Russia, here in an unusual, uncut copy of the first French edition, from a private lending library with the label detailing its lending conditions. Includes the famous illustrated chapter on mushrooms - among many other remarks and anecdotes.

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Drunk "very unhandsome" Circassian ladies and Russian mushrooms

[COLLINS, Samuel]

The Present State of Russia, In a Letter to a Friend at London, written by an eminent person residing at the great czars court at Mosco [sic] for the space of nine years
£3,250

[COLLINS, Samuel], The Present State of Russia, In a Letter to a Friend at London, written by an eminent person residing at the great czars court at Mosco [sic] for the space of nine years

Great (if often negative) early account of pre-petrine Russia, with an important portrait of Tsar Alexei and a famous chapter on mushrooms - among many other remarks and anecdotes. Very good example of the first edition.

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Mekhitar of Sebaste arrives in Venice

ALBERT THE GREAT and Mekhitar SEBASTATSI (editor)

Mec Alpert; tʹargmaneceal ʹi vałnǰoucʹ žamanakacʹ, ʹi mecamecacʹ vardapetacʹ merocʹ, ʹi Latʹin lezuē ʹi Hay barbaṙ: Ew nardenis ʹi luys acecʹeal, ew srbagreʹceal.. [Compendium of Theology of St. Albert the Great]
£14,500

ALBERT THE GREAT and Mekhitar SEBASTATSI (editor), Mec Alpert; tʹargmaneceal ʹi vałnǰoucʹ žamanakacʹ, ʹi mecamecacʹ vardapetacʹ merocʹ, ʹi Latʹin lezuē ʹi Hay barbaṙ: Ew nardenis ʹi luys acecʹeal, ew srbagreʹceal..

A very important edition symbolically: the first book printed by Mekhitar in Venice. A fine copy of this rare work - no copy traced in the USA.

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"One does not have to go very far to gain an immense appreciation for the magnitude of Zohrapian's contribution" (Cox)

[ARMENIAN BIBLE] – ZOHRAPIAN, Hovhannes (editor)

A[stuats]ashunch' matean hin ew nor ktakaranats' ěst chshgrit t'argmanu[t']ean nakhneats' merots' i hellenakann hawatarmagoyn bnagrē i haykakans barbaṛ hashkhatasirut'[en]ē Hovhannu Zōhrapean [Sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. Edited with critical notes and introduction by Hovhannes Zohrapean. With prefaces to each book and an appendix of Apocryphal writings]
£4,250

[ARMENIAN BIBLE] - ZOHRAPIAN, Hovhannes (editor), A[stuats]ashunch' matean hin ew nor ktakaranats' ěst chshgrit t'argmanu[t']ean nakhneats' merots' i hellenakann hawatarmagoyn bnagrē i haykakans barbaṛ hashkhatasirut'[en]ē Hovhannu Zōhrapean

A landmark edition of the Armenian Bible, in a pleasant example. Rarely found.

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Beautiful White Sea monastery turned GULAG camp

[IOANNIKII, I.F., Archimadrite]

Istoriia pervoklassnogo stavropigialnogo Solovetskogo monastyria [History of Stavropegic first-class Solovetsky Monastery]
£650

[IOANNIKII, I.F., Archimadrite], Istoriia pervoklassnogo stavropigialnogo Solovetskogo monastyria

Very good copy of this uncommon illustrated history of one of the most famous monasteries of Russia. With two large folding plans.

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With Russian soldiers chasing a monkey

[SCHLEISSING, Georg Adam]

La Religion ancienne et moderne des Moscovites
£975

[SCHLEISSING, Georg Adam], La Religion ancienne et moderne des Moscovites

Great study of the religious habits and dogmas of Western Russians in th 17th century - finely illustrated with engraved plates by Picart. A fine copy of this uncommon edition.

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Finely handwritten and illuminated by a "peasant scribe and artist"

[OLD BELIEVERS] – MIATELKOV, Fedor Petrovich

Sviattsy [Religious Almanac]

[OLD BELIEVERS] - MIATELKOV, Fedor Petrovich, Sviattsy

Complete with bold miniatures and ornaments: a fine Old-Believer manuscript, signed by the scribe and artist. With contemporary provenance.

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From Ukraine to North America, from the origins to Catherine the Great

DILTEI Filipp Genrikh – Philippe Henry DILTHEY

Opyt rossiiskoi geografii s tolkovaniem gerbov i s rodosloviem tsarstvuiushchego doma, sobrannyi iz raznyh avtorov i manuskriptov Essay géographique sur la Russie avec le blason et la généalogie de la maison regnante, compilé de différens auteurs & manuscripts

DILTEI Filipp Genrikh - Philippe Henry DILTHEY, Opyt rossiiskoi geografii s tolkovaniem gerbov i s rodosloviem tsarstvuiushchego doma, sobrannyi iz raznyh avtorov i manuskriptov

Detailed and wide-ranging description of the history, peoples and geography of the Russian empire under Catherine the Great. Very rare: only four copies outside Russia, one only in the US.

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A future Gulag camp - printed in Arkhangelsk

CHEREPANOV, V. (publisher)

Vidy Mestnostei Solovetskogo Monasteria [Views of the Solovetskii Monastery and its Environs]

CHEREPANOV, V. (publisher), Vidy Mestnostei Solovetskogo Monasteria

A lovely work showing many views of a great Orthodox monastery, and future Soviet camp. Printed in a major port of the White Sea.

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"Так писали прежде для царей"

[OLD BELIEVERS] – BLINOV, Ivan Gavrilovich (scribe)

Zhitie Feodora Studita [The Life of Feodor Studit].

[OLD BELIEVERS] - BLINOV, Ivan Gavrilovich (scribe), Zhitie Feodora Studita

Beautiful illuminated manuscript produced by one of the best scribes of the early 20th-century Russia; very fresh and in its original binding.

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Striking full-page lithographs with gold highlights

[BIBLE, Slavonic] –

Kniga Apokalipsis [...]. Sviatago Andreia Arkhiepiskopa Kesariia Kapadokiiskago skazanie Apokalipsi sviatago Apostala Evangelista Ioanna Bogoslova sokrovennyh otkrovenie [The Book of the Apocalypse].

[BIBLE, Slavonic] -, Kniga Apokalipsis [...]. Sviatago Andreia Arkhiepiskopa Kesariia Kapadokiiskago skazanie Apokalipsi sviatago Apostala Evangelista Ioanna Bogoslova sokrovennyh otkrovenie

A luxury production of the Old Believers' printing press, with gold highlights, very much imitating their richly illustrated manuscripts.

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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.

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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.. [Orthodox Teaching, or Christian Theology Abridged, for His Imperial Highness…the Tsarevich and Grand Duke Pavel 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.

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In fresh condition

[UKRAINE]

Sobor Sv. Kniazia Vladimira v Kieve [The Cathedral of Prince Vladimir the Saint in Kyiv]

[UKRAINE], Sobor Sv. Kniazia Vladimira v Kieve

First edition of this attractive production of Kiyv's leading publisher at the time, and fine study of the architecture and decorations of the recent cathedral.

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For the palm of the hand

[OLD BELIEVERS LITURGY] –

Posledovanie tserkovnogo peniia i vseletnago sobraniia ot mesiatsa septevriia do mesiatsa avgusta po ustavu, izhe vo Ierusalime sviatyia Lavry prepodobnago i bogonosnago ottsa nashego Savvy Osviashchennago [Liturgy for the months September through August following the Typicon of Saint Sabas].

[OLD BELIEVERS LITURGY] -, Posledovanie tserkovnogo peniia i vseletnago sobraniia ot mesiatsa septevriia do mesiatsa avgusta po ustavu, izhe vo Ierusalime sviatyia Lavry prepodobnago i bogonosnago ottsa nashego Savvy Osviashchennago

A lovely example of a tiny manuscript Menologium in Church Slavonic, a liturgical calendar with hymns celebrating the saints for each month of the year. In attractive, fresh condition, with the ornaments in bright colours, bound in its first binding of red morocco over wooden boards. A great example of an Old Believers' miniature production.

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Kiev printing in 6 languages, on blue paper

[RUMOVSKII-KRASNOPEVKOV, Veniamin]

Sviashchennaia istoriia dlia maloletnikh detei… Sacra historia in gratinam puerorum… L'histoire sacrée composée en langue russe a l'usage des jeunes gens…

[RUMOVSKII-KRASNOPEVKOV, Veniamin], Sviashchennaia istoriia dlia maloletnikh detei… Sacra historia in gratinam puerorum… L'histoire sacrée composée en langue russe a l'usage des jeunes gens…

Six languages with 5 different fonts: a rare introduction to biblical story for children, printed on blue paper a lovely copy.

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