Sarychev, Gavrila A.:

$135,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

PUTESHESTVIE FLOTA KAPITANA SARYCHEVA...[translation: VOYAGE OF THE FLEET CAPTAIN SARYCHEV OVER THE NORTHEASTERN PART OF SIBERIA, FROZEN SEA AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN...FROM 1785 TO ... A complete fifty-one-plate copy of the very rare atlas and narrative of this Russian North Pacific exploration, what Lada-Mocarski calls "one of the fundamental and very rare early books on the Aleutian Islands and particularly on Unalashka." Sarychev led the third official Russian expedition to the North Pacific, sponsored by Catherine the Great and under the command of Joseph Billings. He was the official surveyor of the expedition, which lasted from 1785 to 1793, and his observations provide the earliest substantive scientific account of the Aleutians and part of the Alaska coast. The text also includes important linguistic material on the dialects of Russian America."The results of Captain Sarychev's observations and measurements are embodied in several maps of the atlas accompanying the description of the voyage - which lasted eight years - and in masterful engravings of views of natives and of their habitations and ceremonies" - Lada-Mocarski. There is considerable confusion over what constitutes the atlas. Howes calls for fifty-three maps and plates, which is clearly wrong, while Lada-Mocarski is undecided between fifty-one and fifty-two. The Library of Congress card calls for fifty-six. Recent research by collectors and dealers would seem to demonstrate conclusively that many copies of the

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