An Account Of Russia As It Was In The Year 1710

[Twickenham, Surrey]: Printed at Strawberry Hill [Press], 1758., 1758. 8vo. pp. xxiv, 158, 1 leaf]errata. engraved title vignette of Strawberry Hill. contemporary calf, rebacked (edges & corners worn, covers somewhat marked, light foxing to first few leaves). First Edition, of which 700 copies were printed. The prefatory advertisement was written by Horace Walpole. The noted English diplomat served as envoy-extraordinary to Russia from 1704 to 1710, at the end of which term the czar Peter presented him with his portrait set in diamonds. He later served as an envoy again to Russia, as well as to Prussia, Germany, and other countries. The original manuscript for this account was obtained by Walpole from Richard Owen Cambridge, who in turn had secured it from the Russian book collection of Monsieur Zolman, a secretary of English diplomat Stephen Poyntz. "Summary though Whitworth's treatment is of a subject so interesting, his book is of value, and is not unjustly compared by Walpole to Molesworth's account of Denmark. The author infers great feats for the Russian arms from the `passive valour' and endurance of the peasantry. The account of the Russian naval yards (of which the personnel was almost entirely English) at the end of the volume is specially curious." (DNB) Cox I p. 195. Hazen, Strawberry Hill Bib., 5. Hazen, Walpole, 48. Nerhood 75. Rothschild 2560.. F.