Histoire de Russie et des Pricipales Nations

1812. RUSSIA. Histoire de Russie et des Principales Nations de l'Empire Russe. By Pierre-Charles Levesque. Eight volumes of text. xxxii, 371; 382; 395; 475; 420; 476; 453 [3]; 468 pp. 8vo., 220 x 135 mm, AND one volume Atlas in 4to., 272 x 218 mm, consisting of a folding map and 61 plates depicting portraits of the Tsars. Bound in original publisher's decorative wrappers. Uncut and partially unopened. Paris: Fournier, 1812. Fourth, and Best Edition of this classic history of Russia. An exceptional survival, completely preserved in the original publisher's marbled paper wrappers, uncut and partially unopened. This fourth edition is the most complete and desireable because it reprints Levesque's text from the 1800 edition, updated with extensive corrections and enlarged with the addition of his important life of Catherine the Great. The Histoire has further been added to with coverage up to the death of Tsar Paul 1 by Conrad Malte-Brun and Georges-Bernard Depping, creating an entirely different Volume #8. Pierre-Charles Levesque (1736-1812), a protege of Diderot, obtained his knowledge of Russia and its history while teaching in St. Petersburg during seven years, from 1773 to 1780. An appealing set in original condition with some insignificant wear to the wrappers of the atlas volume. Overall very fine.