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Details
GÜLDENSTÄDT, Johann Anton (1745-1781). Reisen durch Russland und im Caucasischen Gebürge. Edited by Peter Simon Pallas. St. Petersburg: Academy of Science, 1787-1791.
2 volumes, 4° (251 x 195mm and 245 x 178mm). One large engraved folding map and 27 engraved folding plates and maps, 11 of these hand-coloured. Contemporary green morocco (volume 1) and red morocco (volume 2), the sides of volume 1 centred with the arms of Maria Feodorovna, the sides and spines with contrasting but similar gilt tooling, the spines with morocco labels and numbering pieces, gilt edges, marbled endpapers (small, expert repairs at spine ends and joints). Provenance: Maria Feodorovna, Empress Consort (1759-1828) -- Wolfgang A. Herz (bookplate; sold, Christie's New York, 09 December 2009, Lot 93).
FIRST EDITION. EMPRESS CONSORT MARIA FEODOROVNA'S COPY of the first systematic study of the Caucasus. The expedition, and its publication, galvanized Russian interest in the region, leading very quickly to the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk, which established East Georgia as a protectorate of Russia. Alexander I, Maria's son, later began Russia's protracted war of expansion in the region; Güldenstädt's survey was undoubtedly a vital tool. The expedition was sponsored by Catherine II and took Güldenstädt through Ukraine and Astrakhan into the northern Caucasus, Ossetia, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Georgia between 1770 and 1773. At the end of volume two is a dictionary of various languages of the Caucasus region, some recorded for the first time. Pallas edited the work following the author's untimely death in 1781. Chertkov, no. 2839; Miansarov, p. 340; SK knig na inostrannykh iazykakh 1201. (2)
2 volumes, 4° (251 x 195mm and 245 x 178mm). One large engraved folding map and 27 engraved folding plates and maps, 11 of these hand-coloured. Contemporary green morocco (volume 1) and red morocco (volume 2), the sides of volume 1 centred with the arms of Maria Feodorovna, the sides and spines with contrasting but similar gilt tooling, the spines with morocco labels and numbering pieces, gilt edges, marbled endpapers (small, expert repairs at spine ends and joints). Provenance: Maria Feodorovna, Empress Consort (1759-1828) -- Wolfgang A. Herz (bookplate; sold, Christie's New York, 09 December 2009, Lot 93).
FIRST EDITION. EMPRESS CONSORT MARIA FEODOROVNA'S COPY of the first systematic study of the Caucasus. The expedition, and its publication, galvanized Russian interest in the region, leading very quickly to the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk, which established East Georgia as a protectorate of Russia. Alexander I, Maria's son, later began Russia's protracted war of expansion in the region; Güldenstädt's survey was undoubtedly a vital tool. The expedition was sponsored by Catherine II and took Güldenstädt through Ukraine and Astrakhan into the northern Caucasus, Ossetia, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Georgia between 1770 and 1773. At the end of volume two is a dictionary of various languages of the Caucasus region, some recorded for the first time. Pallas edited the work following the author's untimely death in 1781. Chertkov, no. 2839; Miansarov, p. 340; SK knig na inostrannykh iazykakh 1201. (2)
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