Pierre-Charles Levesque — Histoire de Russie

Hambourg et Brunswick, Pierre-Francois Fauche et Compagnie, 1800. Leather. The eight volumes of Pierre-Charles Levesque's extensive and well respected history of Russia, written here in the original French. Volume I illustrated with a large folding map. In eight volumes. Lacking the ninth volume, which is an atlas volume. In the original French. A new edition of this work. Volume I with a large folding map. This work is an octavo. With a half-title to each volume. Collated, complete. This extensive history remains a classic and stable text on the subject. It was a great success when it was first published, including being approved by many Russian nobles. The author not only used Russian archives and documents to research this work, but he also lived in Saint Petersburg for seven years. The history starts with Slavic antiquity to the end of the eighteenth century. Russia has a long and fascinating history, with some of the influential figures including Ivan IV the Terrible and Catherine the Great. This work had a direct influence on how Russia was viewed in Europe and Russian historiographers in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Levesque was a protegee of Denis Diderot, and went to work as a Professor in Saint Petersburg upon his recommendation. He was one of the first Frenchmen to go to Saint Petersburg. He was also a translator of Xenophon and Plutarch. In a half calf binding with marbled paper to the boards. Externally, smart. Light rubbing to the boards. Minor surface cracks and marks to the spines. Light bumping to the extremities. Very small amount of loss to the head of the spine of Volume IV. Small cracks to the head and tail of the joints. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are lightly age-toned and generally clean with the odd spot. Folding map with a closed tear, no loss of image, with former tape repair to the reverse. Closed tear to page 285/286, with evidence of tape being formerly adhered to the page, with no loss of text. Very small amount of loss to some of the pages, never affecting text. Very Good . Ill.: Not Stated. Very Good .