First edition of this groundbreaking work, complete
Publication: Weitrecht (part 3) et Schnoor for Charles Guillaume Muller, St. Petersbourg, 1776-7.
First edition of this fundamental work on the Russian empire and its peoples, the result of a multi-year field trip by Georgi. The first work published in Russia with plates coloured by hand. Rare complete as here.
£14,500
In stock
Attractive, complete copy of the first edition of this extremely influential work, the first extensive ethnographic study of the peoples of the Russian empire, and the first significant Russian work with plates coloured by hand; these plates served as model for many later European publications, as well as a celebrated set of porcelain figurines ordered by Catherine the Great.
All captions for the engravings were printed in three languages, so that it could be supplied to the text volumes of any of the three issues: French, German and Russian; ours is the French variant of the first edition. The work is divided into the following sections: I. People of the Finnish tribe (25 plates), II. Tatar people (30 plates), III. Samoyed, Manchu and Eastern Siberian people (20 plates). The plate volume of this copy contains additionally 20 plates of the fourth part – Mongolian peoples, Russians and other peoples, which was supplied to the German and Russian editions.
Johann Gottlieb Georgi (1729-1803) was a German geographer and chemist. In 1770 he studied at the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. Two years later Georgi went to accompany Peter Simon Pallas, a German zoologist and biologist, on his expedition through Siberia. “He was particularly interested in the region of the Lake Baikal. His description and mapping of this region remained one of the most accurate and significant for several decades. After his return to St. Petersburg Georgi published the observations he made during his trip. It is hard to overestimate Georgi’s work. His records provided extensive and accurate ethnographical, economical, botanical and geographical descriptions of the large part of the Russian Empire.” (NDB, Neue Deutsche Biographie VI, 242).
Provenance
Bibliothek Hammer, Stockholm (ex-librises to upper pastedowns; Boris Berezovskiy (1946-2013, Russian businessman and politician).
Bibliography
Cf. SK 1374; Lipperheide 133; Colas 1224; Brunet II, 618.
Item number
1923
Three volumes in one accompanied by plates vol., quarto (29.5 x 22.5 cm). Title, [2], 108 pp.; title, [2], 228 pp.; title, [2], 164 pp., uncut, some leaves unopened; marginal waterstain in vols 1 and 3, heavier at the end. Vol. with plates : 25 + 75 engraved plates in fine contemporary hand-colour, with upper wrappers and index for I and II part. Modern half calf gilt over old marbled boards by Aquarius.
Very rare small-format school atlas showing the development of the Russian Empire during 1000 years, and its extent at its height. With original hand-colour. No other physical copies traced, including in Russia.
Impressive example of the first edition, with a signed binding featuring two 1767 Russian coins. One of the greatest 20th-c. books on Eastern Russia, Siberia, and the historical relations with their neighbours. A fascinating and beautiful production.
![Image for GEREBTZOFF [ZHEREBTSOV]. Essai sur l'histoire de la civilisation en Russie. First edition. Paris, 1858. #2](https://www.pyrarebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3181_1-300x321.jpg)
A fine example of the very first edition, originally published in French; fresh, in a master binding. Scarce, as we couldn't trace any copies at auction in many decades. An extensive work covering the history of Russia and the Russian empire, with a slavophile accent.
Fresh example of this classic travel account through Southern Russia, Ukraine and the Crimea - richly illustrated with original hand-colour. In a sturdy modern binding.
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