![GOLOVNIN, Vasilii -- RIKORD, Petr Ivanovich, Captain (1776-1855). Zapiski flota kapitana Rikorda o plavanii ego k Yaponskim beregam v 1812 i 1813 godakh. [Notes of Fleet Captain Rikord concerning his sailing to Japan's shores in 1812 and 1813, and about his relations with the Japanese.] St. Petersburg: at the Naval Press, 1816. 4° (235 x 184mm). Engraved portrait of Takadaya-Kahei, and 4 engraved folding plans after Rikord. (Damptain in the bottom margin of some leaves, light scattered spotting.) Contemporary Russian red half sheep, spine label (spine foot repaired, small repairs on the endpapers). Provenance: 20th-century Russian booksellers (stamps on the endpapers).](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2010/CSK/2010_CSK_05476_0364_000(golovnin_vasilii_--_rikord_petr_ivanovich_captain_zapiski_flota_kapita044742).jpg?w=1)
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GOLOVNIN, Vasilii -- RIKORD, Petr Ivanovich, Captain (1776-1855). Zapiski flota kapitana Rikorda o plavanii ego k Yaponskim beregam v 1812 i 1813 godakh. [Notes of Fleet Captain Rikord concerning his sailing to Japan's shores in 1812 and 1813, and about his relations with the Japanese.] St. Petersburg: at the Naval Press, 1816. 4° (235 x 184mm). Engraved portrait of Takadaya-Kahei, and 4 engraved folding plans after Rikord. (Damptain in the bottom margin of some leaves, light scattered spotting.) Contemporary Russian red half sheep, spine label (spine foot repaired, small repairs on the endpapers). Provenance: 20th-century Russian booksellers (stamps on the endpapers).
FIRST EDITION OF RIKORD'S EXPEDITION TO RESCUE GOLOVNIN. It constitutes an important and early first-hand account of contact between Japan and Russia. Rikord sailed to Japan on the Russian sloop-of-war Diana, taking on board a number of Japanese seamen shipwrecked off the coast of Kamchatka, and capturing Takadaya-Kahei and several crew from a large junk. He landed at Kunashie where he negotiated the eventual release of Golovnin, averting war with Japan. Golovnin later wrote a popular account of the experiences; both accounts were translated for an English edition in 1818. Whittaker, Russia Engages the World, p.189; not in Obol'ianinov (which notes only an 1851 edition).
FIRST EDITION OF RIKORD'S EXPEDITION TO RESCUE GOLOVNIN. It constitutes an important and early first-hand account of contact between Japan and Russia. Rikord sailed to Japan on the Russian sloop-of-war Diana, taking on board a number of Japanese seamen shipwrecked off the coast of Kamchatka, and capturing Takadaya-Kahei and several crew from a large junk. He landed at Kunashie where he negotiated the eventual release of Golovnin, averting war with Japan. Golovnin later wrote a popular account of the experiences; both accounts were translated for an English edition in 1818. Whittaker, Russia Engages the World, p.189; not in Obol'ianinov (which notes only an 1851 edition).