Steamship "Elizaveta" on Neva.

A rare and attractive lithograph showing the first Russian steamboat on its run between Saint Petersburg and Kronstadt.

The first steamboat to be built in Russia was constructed in 1800 by Charles Baird (1766–1843), originally from Scotland. He initially arrived to Saint Petersburg in 1786 accompanying Charles Gascoigne, whom Catherine II entrusted with the establishment of the Aleksandrovsk gun factory at Petrozavodsk. By 1792 Baird founded his own successful business, the Baird Works, specialising in steam-driven machinery.

The Baird Works were responsible for the Elizaveta, Russia's first steamship, launched in 1815, and this early start gave them a ten-year monopoly on steamship routes from St. Petersburg, including the Elizaveta's run to Kronstadt.

Lithograph with contemporary hand colour (41.8 x 52.5 cm), before the letter, notes in pencil to bottom margin; light soiling.