The costume of the Russian Empire.

Attractive copy depicting traditional russian dress in bright original hand-colour.

This title was the fourth in a series of costume books issued by William Miller, which included Turkey and China. It depicts peoples from the whole spectrum of 19th century Russian society, including peasants, gentry, merchants, magicians, priests and shamen in their traditional dress. The text was written by William Alexander after the main texts available at the time on Russia including Pallas, Chappe d'Auteroche, Krashenenikov, and Sauer. The plates are after engravings by Johann Gottlieb Georgi's Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen Reichs (1776-80). Georgi was one of the savants drawn to Catherine the Great's Russian Enlightenment, and undertook the first scientific ethnographic study of Greater Russia under the patronage of the Empress, enquiring into cultures on the fringes including the Finns, Tatars, Samoyeds, Manchurians, Mongols and Cossacks.

4to (36 x 26 cm), [78] pp. including French and English title pages, dedications, prefaces and tables of contents, with 73 hand-coloured aquatint plates (watermarked J. Whatman 1823) engraved by J. Dadley after Georgi, each with accompanying text in English and French. Red crushed morrocco, covers with borders in gilt and blind, spine richly gilt in six compartments, with broad gilt dividers morrocco lettering-piece to second, all edges gilt.

Abbey Travel 244; Colas 703; Lipperheide 1342.