Description de toutes les nations de l'empire de Russie,

Fine complete copy of the first edition. The captions for the engravings were printed in three languages, so that it could be placed with the text volumes of any of the three issues: French, German and Russian. 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 an additional 20 plates, a the fourth part - Mongolian peoples, Russians and other peoples, which was supplied with the German and Russian editions.

Johann Gottlieb Georgi (1729-1803) was a German geographer and chemist. In 1770 he began his studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, before accompanying Peter Simon Pallas, a German zoologist and biologist, on his expedition through Siberia two years later. '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).

Three vols in one, accompanied by plate vol.,; 4to (29.5 x 22.5 cm); title, [2], 108 pp.; title, [2], 228 pp.; title, [2], 164 pp., uncut, some leaves unopened; marginal water stain in vols I & III, heavier at the end; plate vol.: 25 + 75 engraved plates in fine contemporary hand-colour, with upper wrappers & index for parts I & II; modern half calf gilt over old marbled boards, a very good set.

Bobins 999; Colas 1224; Lipperheide 133.