PLESHCHEEV, Sergei Ivanovich.

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Tagebuch einer Reise des Russische-kayserlichen Lieutenants von der flotte herren Sergiei Pleschtschjeew von der Insel Paros nach Syrien und Palastina, nebst einer kurzen Geschichte Ali-Beys, Aus dem Russischen übersetzt von C(hristian) G(ottlieb von) A(r First German edition, first printing, following the first Russian edition of 1773, of this rare account of the author's mission to the Levant in 1772. This copy is from the Pavlovsk Palace library of Grand Duke Paul, later Tsar Paul I (d. 1801), who was a close friend of the author. The roots of Pleshcheev's journey lay in the Ottoman declaration of war on the Russian empire in 1768. Catherine the Great then deemed it prudent to reinvest in Peter the Great's project of a deep-water navy, which might sail all the way around Europe, into the Mediterranean, and "harass the Ottomans from the west" (Randolph, p. 15). Having begun his naval career with the British fleet in the Atlantic, Pleshcheev - then aged only 20 - was perfectly positioned for this expedition. The main purpose of the mission was to attack the Ottoman naval bases in the eastern Mediterranean and support Ali Bey al-Kabir (d. 1773), an ethnic Georgian slave-soldier who had led a revolt against the Turks and made Egypt independent. In 1770, Ali Bey and his allies had expanded into Syria and the Hijaz, but by 1772 they were losing momentum. During his mission, Pleshcheev visited Ali Bey in his camp, and attempted to help him take Jaffa. The expedition was over by t

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