PBA Galleries

[26],,438, [16] pp. With folding woodcut map; 10 engraved plates & plans, 3 of them folding; folding letterpress table on 2 sheets joined; several full-page woodcut illustrations. Large folding copper-engraved map by R.W. Seale, from the English edition of the book, bound in at rear. (4to) 22.6x18 cm (9x7"), period half vellum & marbled boards. First Edition.

First edition of the most important early source on the history and culture of Siberia. The author a Swedish soldier, was taken prisoner at the the Battle of Potalva and spent thirteen years captive in Siberia. He spent the time studying the language, geography, and culture of the region, the results of which were published on his return to Sweden. In addition to being the first to suggest the Ural continental border, Strahlenberg’s work on Tartar dialects was groundbreaking. Bookplate of John Swensk, Stockholm.

The author states that the map was too large to bind with the book, but that a copy of the map on thin paper in four sheets could be obtained and be bound with the book. The map is usually wanting.This volume was clearly bound without the large map, but does have the later (1737) English version, which was a copy of the original map for the 1730 edition, "Nova Descriptio Geographica Tattariae Magnae tam orientalis quam occidentalis..." (64.5x98 cm  - 25¾x38½").