An Account of a Geographical and Astronomical Expedition to the Northern Parts of Russia for ascertaining the degrees of latitude and longitude of the mouth of the River Kovima;

$1,500 · Offered by Book Collector Inc

Author: Martin Sauer (1785 1806) Year: 1802 Publisher: Printed by A. Strahan, for T. Cadell Place: London Description: [xxvii]+[1 blank]+[1]-332+[1]-58 pages with 14 copper engraved plates and folding map. Folio (10 ¼ x 7 ¾") bound in modern full burgundy cloth, spine stamped in gilt. ( Sabin 77152. Street VI: 3499. Howes S117. Cox. I-353. Hill I: 268. Smith 8989. Wickersham 6134. Nerhood #112) First edition. Martin Sauer was an English civil servant who knew Russian, French and German. He became acquainted with Joseph Billings in St Petersburg in the 1780s. He agreed to join Billings expedition as his secretary and interpreter. It was agreed that he would write the official account, but there is some controversy about his actives when he returned to St Petersburg in 1794. It has been suggested that he left hurriedly for England with much of the important archival material from the voyage, including diaries and secret reports, so that he could publish a record of the expedition before Russian authorities and scholars in the Academy of Sciences could review its details. Sauer's An account of the Geographical and Astronomical Expedition to the Northern Parts of Russia was published in London in 1802. It contains an abundance of detail about eastern Siberia and the Aleutian Islands, and records the expeditions visits to Kodiak Island, Prince William Sound and the coast south as far as Yakutat Bay. The chart was made by Aaron Arrowsmith from Sauer's notes and Billings observation

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.