Very rare books Keywords

From shamanism to planting seeds in Kamchatka

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 FOSSATI & BARATTI. Currus triumphales..., First edition, in colour; Venice, 1782. #2

Russians in Venice, celebrated with merchants, peoples of the world and bullfighting

FOSSATI, Giorgio and Domenico, [with] Antonio BARATTI

Currus triumphales ad adventum clarissimorum Moschoviae principum Pauli Petrovitz et Mariae Theodorownae conjugis regali orandum spectaculo in Divi Marci venetiarum foro die 22 Januarii anno MDCCLXXXI

£22,500

FOSSATI, Giorgio and Domenico, [with] Antonio BARATTI, Currus triumphales ad adventum clarissimorum Moschoviae principum Pauli Petrovitz et Mariae Theodorownae conjugis regali orandum spectaculo in Divi Marci venetiarum foro die 22 Januarii anno MDCCLXXXI

Fine and scarce Italian "livre de fêtes" with beautiful contemporary colour - with an added suite of prints related to the same event, the Venitian reception of the future Tsar of Russia.

Image for BONAPARTE-WYSE, William. On Occasion of Roumania... Inscribed first edition. Plymouth, 1881. #2

An Irish poet fond of Provencal celebrates Romania's independence and publishes it in Plymouth

BONAPARTE-WYSE, William Charles

On Occasion of Roumania Constituting Herself a Kingdom. An Ode. With a French version by Constant Hennion

£950

BONAPARTE-WYSE, William Charles, On Occasion of Roumania Constituting Herself a Kingdom. An Ode. With a French version by Constant Hennion

A fascinating multi-cultural work, from Ireland and the UK to France and Romania - in a fine, large-paper example inscribed by the author, a relative of Napoleon. Very rare.

Image for SYTIN, Lubki. Moscow, 1880s. #4

Striking 'lubki' in great condition

SITINE [Ivan SYTIN] (publisher)

Images et dessins populaires russes jusqu'a 1860 [Title on cover]

£4,750

SITINE [Ivan SYTIN] (publisher), Images et dessins populaires russes jusqu'a 1860 [Title on cover]

Some great imagery in a rare volume of 85 plates - mostly military but only, with many themes strikingly depicted. A rare item of Russian folk art, here in fine condition.

Image for JABOTINSKY, V. Piatero, rare first edition in original Russian, 1936. #1

Odessa sung by her celebrated Zionist son

ZHABOTINSKII, V. (ALTALENA) [also JABOTINSKY]

Piatero [The Five]

£4,950

ZHABOTINSKII, V. (ALTALENA) [also JABOTINSKY], Piatero

Very rare first edition of Jabotinsky's best novel: one of 75 copies on papier Japon, out of a total printrun of only 125 copies. A fine novel about Jabotinsky's native city in Ukraine, Odessa, far from his important Zionist militant activities. In original Russian.

Image for VIGO ROUSSILLON, Military Forces of the North American States - in Russian; first edition. Skt. Peterburg, 1868. #2

The American Civil War for a Russian audience

VIGO ROUSSILLON, Francois-Paul, trans. Stankevich and Vitmer

Voennye sily Severo-Amerikanskikh Shtatov. Voina za nerazdelnost Soiuza (1861 - 1865) [The Military Forces of the North American States. War for the Integrity of the Union 1861-1865]

£2,950

VIGO ROUSSILLON, Francois-Paul, trans. Stankevich and Vitmer, Voennye sily Severo-Amerikanskikh Shtatov. Voina za nerazdelnost Soiuza (1861 - 1865)

Very rare first book in Russian dealing with the American Civil War, illustrated with large folding maps. Apparently no copy in the USA of this first edition, only one outside Russia (in Rome).

Image for SHPERK, F. Rossiia Dalnego Vostoka. Skt. Peterburg, 1885. #2

From the Library of Congress - but no copy in the US

SHPERK, Franz

Rossiia Dalnego Vostoka [Russia of the Far East]

£1,850

SHPERK, Franz, Rossiia Dalnego Vostoka

Extensive description of Eastern Siberia and the region near China. A rare work in very good condition.

Image for SHAKESPEARE & GOLDBERG, Romeo and Juliette in Yiddish, first edition, Minsk, 1935; inscribed. #2

First in Yiddish - inscribed

SHAKESPEARE, William and I. GOLDBERG (translator)

Romeo un Zshulyete: tragedya in finf aktn [Romeo and Juliet: the Tragedy in Five Acts]

£2,950

SHAKESPEARE, William and I. GOLDBERG (translator), Romeo un Zshulyete: tragedya in finf aktn

Lovely example of a rare book: the first 'Romeo and Juliette' published in Yiddish, here in fine condition and inscribed by the translator to a famous Yiddish author and professor.

Image for STANISLAVSKII, K. Photograph inscribed. Moscow, 1911. #2

Chekhov's innovative director

STANISLAVSKII, Konstantin Sergeevich

Cabinet photograph signed to Andrei Pavlovich Petrovskii

£3,750

STANISLAVSKII, Konstantin Sergeevich, Cabinet photograph signed to Andrei Pavlovich Petrovskii

Excellent photograph of the famous director, beautifully inscribed to a fellow man of theatre.

Image for TILLO, A. Opisanie Aralo-Kaspiiskoi nivellirovki. First edition, Skt. Peterburg, 1877 #2

Which one is higher?

TILLO, Aleksei

Opisanie Aralo-Kaspiiskoi nivellirovki proizvedennoi v 1874 godu [Description of the Aral-Caspian Levelling Conducted in 1874]

£1,950

TILLO, Aleksei, Opisanie Aralo-Kaspiiskoi nivellirovki proizvedennoi v 1874 godu

Scarce scientific work with detailed maps of the area between the two seas, now in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Image for MEYER & VELTEN, Vues pittoresques des palais et jardins impériaux...de Saint Pétersbourg. St. Petersburg, 1850s. #2

In stunning colour

MEYER J[ohann Jacob] (artist)

Vues pittoresques des palais et jardins impériaux aux Environs de St. Pétersbourg

£65,000

MEYER J[ohann Jacob] (artist), Vues pittoresques des palais et jardins impériaux aux Environs de St. Pétersbourg

One of the best plate books on St. Petersburg, here in a fantastic example in excellent contemporary hand-colour. Beautiful and very rare.

Image for GERNING, SCHÜTZ & MORA. Viage pintoresco por las orillas del Rin. First edition in Spanish, London, 1826. #2

British aquatints of the Rhine for South Americans

[GERNING] – SCHÜTZ, Christian Georg (artist) and Jose Joaquin MORA

Viage pintoresco por las orillas del Rin, desde Maguncia hasta colonia

£7,500

[GERNING] - SCHÜTZ, Christian Georg (artist) and Jose Joaquin MORA, Viage pintoresco por las orillas del Rin, desde Maguncia hasta colonia

Exceptionally rare edition in Spanish of one of the most successful illustrated books of the time, specifically conceived for the South American market. A beautiful copy.

German populations in Ukraine and Russia

Atlas der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Gemeinen [sic] in Russland

£1,850

, Atlas der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Gemeinen [sic] in Russland

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

Image for Tablettes chronologiques de la Monarchie de Russie. Manuscrit, ca. 1785. #1

Manuscript history in your pocket

[BARRIÉRA]

Tablettes chronologiques de la Monarchie de Russie

£3,950

[BARRIÉRA], Tablettes chronologiques de la Monarchie de Russie

A lovely manuscript booklet finely bound, showing all important events of Russia's history up to 1784 - very unusual, attractive and informative, possibly connected to Tsar Nicholas I.

Image for NAKHIMOV, Akim. Works in Verse and Prose. Kharkov, 1815. #2

Rare Russian fables from Ukraine

NAKHIMOV, Akim Nikolaevich

Sochineniia v stikhakh i proze [Works in Verse and Prose]

£1,250

NAKHIMOV, Akim Nikolaevich, Sochineniia v stikhakh i proze

Early Russian fables (and other poetical works) at the dawn of Russia's Golden Age of Literature - the authors only book, written and printed in Kharkov, nowadays Ukraine. No copy traced outside Russia.