A Relation Of Three Embassies From His Sacred Majestie Charles II To The Great Duke Of Muscovie, The King Of Sweden, And The King Of Denmark. Performed By The Earle Of Carlisle In The Years 1663 And 1664. Written By An Attendant.

London, printed for John Starkey, 1669. 8vo. Contemporary calf with triple fillet in blind to boards, rebacked in the 19th century; pp. [xvi], 461, [3, publisher's catalogue], erratic pagination, engraved frontispiece-portrait of the Earl of Carlisle, engraved portrait of the Grand Duke (a little shaved at outer margin), only very light toning or spotting in places; a very good copy of a rare work, provenance: front free endpaper inscribed given to Lascelles. Ambassador. April 4. 1894 in ink, engraved armorial bookplate Francis North, Baron of Gilford, dated 1703 in the plate, inside front cover, ownership inscription George Howard, dated 1876 on opposite fly-leaf. First edition of the eyewitness account of the official English embassy to Russia, written by Lausanne-born Guy Miege, under-secretary to the English ambassador Charles Howard, the first Earl of Carlisle, ambassador-extraordinary to Russia, Sweden, and Denmark from 1663 to 1664. 'In 1668 he was sent as ambassador-extraordinary with the Garter to Charles XI of Sweden. With the earl's approval, Guy Miege, one of Carlisle's attendants, wrote an account of these embassies, which was published in English and French in 1669' (ODNB). 'With Carlisle's express permission, Miege wrote an account of the journey, subsequently published as A Relation of Three Embassies (1669), which is both an attempted vindication of the ambassador's conduct in the face of Russian criticism and a lively source of impressions of Russian society and culture. He considered Muscovy a beautiful country, but found its inhabitants, in contrast to the Swedes, coarse, austere, and ignorant of learning' (ibid, under Miege). Provenance: Sir Frank Cavendish Lascelles (1841–1920) was a Victorian career diplomat who was appointed British ambassador to Russia the year he was presented with this volume. ESTC R15983.