Our Notes & References

First edition of this compact yet extensive study by “the first Russian scientist to lay the foundations for statistical research in Russia” (Zhukovskaia, our translation here and elsewhere).

A lovely example, fresh and attractively bound. Rare outside Russia: of the handful of copies in WorldCat, only two complete in the US (Harvard and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; NYPL seems to hold only one volume out of two), and we couldn’t find any other example selling at auction.

Evdokim Filippovich Ziablovskii (1763–1846) was a geographer, professor at St Petersburg University and a statesman. He developed a few manuals and textbooks of Russian statistics, based on his own in-field studies and the works of his foreign colleagues, including Bernhard Andreas von Heim and Johann Georg Heinrich Hassel. Through his works, which are often considered “the first statistical courses for broader audience to be published in Russian” (Zhukovskaia), Ziablovskii significantly promoted geographic, statistical and ethnographic knowledge in Russia when these fields were still underdeveloped. He additionally taught geography at the Pedagogical Institute of St Petersburg, forestry at the Naval School and general and national history at the public courses for civil servants.

This Rossiiskaia statistika is fascinating for the extent of its data about Russia and its population in the early 19th century, from the climatic conditions, soil and water quality to the observations about the national educational level (with a division between “moral education” and mental literacy). Ziablovskii also presents interesting information about the population growth and the number of inhabitants based on their religious beliefs, ethnicity, wealth and whether they live in cities or villages. Additionally, he introduces data about the laws and regulations in the Russian Empire, the structure of the government, armed forces, the country’s international relations, and the national industries by category (including winemaking, forestry, fisheries, silk farming and gemstone mining).

The work is generally based on his earlier, five-part study published over 10 years, the Statisticheskoe opisanie Rossiiskoi imperii s obozreniem Evropy v statisticheskom vide [Statistical Description of the Russian Empire with a Statistical Review of Europe] (1808-15): our 8vo volume is a more compact and accessible read about the diverse aspects of the Russian Empire in figures. A second edition was published in 1842.

Bibliography

Zhukovskaia T. N., Sidorchuk I. V., “Ziablovskii Evdokim Filippovich”, Biografika SPbGU.

Vlasova N. V., “Ziablovskii Evdokim Filippovich”, Demograficheskii entsiklopedicheskii slovar // Sovetskaia entsiklopediia, Glavnyi redaktor D. I. Valentei, Moskva, 1985.