Bidspirit auction | Picturesque Russia. Our Fatherland. Volume

Picturesque Russia. Our Fatherland. Volume 12, part 2. Eastern outskirts of Russia. Primorsky and Amur regions. 473 pp. Moscow-St. Petersburg 1895. Type. Comrade M.O. Wolf. Format 28 x 38. - An original copy of the famous multi-volume illustrated edition ”Picturesque Russia. Our Fatherland”, dedicated to the Primorsky and Amur regions - territories that were part of the eastern outskirts of the Russian Empire. The edition was published in 1895 in the printing house of the Partnership M.O. Wolf, one of the leading book publishers of the late 19th century. The book contains 473 pages of text and engravings, including ethnographic essays, historical and geographical descriptions, images of landscapes, cities, peoples, architecture and everyday life of the inhabitants of the Far East. Particular attention is paid to the life of indigenous peoples, the development of new territories and the military-administrative presence of the empire. Edition and design: A luxurious illustrated edition in an original artistic binding, decorated with embossing with a symbolic image of an eagle and decorative elements in the Russian style, A professional restoration of the binding was carried out, preserving the decorative fabric cover with an ornamental frame and a title made in an exquisite pre-revolutionary font, The paper is thick, high-quality, with many full-size engravings, etchings, vignettes and initials. ”Picturesque Russia” is one of the largest and most ambitious local history publications of the late 19th century, conceived as an encyclopedia of the nature, peoples and culture of the Russian Empire. The project had not only an educational, but also an ideological task: to visually and literary demonstrate the greatness and diversity of the country. The section devoted to the Far East is especially valuable in the historical, geographical and ethnographic context, as it documents the life of regions that are in the stage of active development.