Second edition of a richly illustrated account of Russia and Scandinavia at the beginning of the 19th century by Sir Robert Ker Porter (1777-1842). Porter, a traveller, diplomat and painter, went to Russia in 1805, but had to leave in 1806 due to an unhappy love affair with a Russian princess. During the next two years he travelled through Scandinavia and other European countries. The present work reflect his experiences, discussing his journey to Russia, life in St Petersburg, the Russian nobility, peasantry and trades class, the Russian Orthodox Church, military events in Europe, the countryside in Finland and Sweden, King Gustavus Vasa of whom he etched a portrait, and more. The illustrations include buildings in St Petersburg and Stockholm, Russian tradesmen and their wives, cossacks, officers, soldiers, peasants, Bashkirs, Kirgizians, Swedish and Finnish peasants and country scenes, and the highly characteristic illustrations of the inside of a Russian postal office and Swedish women doing laundry in an ice-hole in a frozen river.
One tear along the fold of one plate. Binding slighly rubbed, hinges tender. A very good copy. Abbey, Travel 13; Cat. Russica P 1036; Colas 2407; Lipperheide 1346; Tooley, Coloured Plates 383.