One of the great accounts of Russia under Peter the Great, as well as Persia, especially remarkable for the wealth of illustrations. Here in a beautifully fresh example of this Dutch edition.
CHAPPE D’AUTEROCHE, Jean-Baptiste and Stepan Petrovich KRASHENINNIKOV
Voyage en Sibérie, fait par ordre du Roi en 1761; contenant les moeurs, les usages des Russes, et l'etat actuel de cette puissance [and] contenant la description du Kamchatka
A very fresh copy of the first edition of one of the great French travels abroad, and a classic representative of French 18th-century publishing, with many artistic illustrations, engraved maps, and high quality printing. With a wealth of details on Russian, Siberia, the Russian Far East, including Kamchatka and the Northern Pacific.
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.
The first circumnavigation by a blind person: first edition, illustrated with more than 20 plates, and very rare in the original cloth.
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.
[BARANSHCHIKOV, Vasilii Iakovlevich] – S. K. R
Neshchastnyia Prikliucheniia [...] v trekh chastiakh sveta: v Amerike, Azii i Evrope s 1780 po 1787 god [Unfortunate Adventures [...] in Three Parts of the World: America, Asia, and Europe, from 1780 to 1787]
What a story! Incredible (but true) adventures of a Russian throughout the world, and as a result an innovative book, probably the first Russian account of South America and the Caribbean, with a wealth of great details. Very rare first edition, with only one copy in the US.
SHCHERBATOVA, Olga Aleksandrovna
Po Indii i Tseilonu. Moi putevyia zametki 1890-91 [Across India and Ceylon. My Travel Notes 1890-91]
Wide-ranging travel account, illustrated with a wealth of photographs, some taken by the author, a remarkable Russian princess fond of travels. A fine example of this scarce first edition.
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.
Very rare fiist editoion of this travel to areas "almost completely closed to Europeans" (Vigasin): the first significant Russian publication on Central Asia, "the first geographic exploration of Uzbekistan" (Lebedev) with a detailed description of silk production, and most probably the first printed Russian-Persian vocabulary.
The preferred, large-paper issue attractively bound in full red morocco richly gilt. This edition contains the very first publication of the Travels; and the first illustrated edition of the Memoirs: overall with almost 40 plates including 11 hand-coloured, some with gilt highlights. A great example.
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.
