Rikord, Petr Ivanovich (1776-1855) & [Golovnin, Vasily Mikhailovich] (1776-1831). Zapiski Flota Kapitana Rikorda o Plavanii Ego k Yaponskim Beregam v 1812 i 1813 Godakh i o Snosheniyakh s Yapontsami [Notes of Fleet Captain Rikord About his Sailing to Japan's Shores in 1812 and 1813, and His Relations with the Japanese]. Saint Petersburg: Naval Typ., 1816.

First Edition. Quarto. [vi], 138, [ii] pp. With four folding copper engraved maps and plans after P. Rikord, and an aquatint portrait of Takadaya-Kahei.

Period Russian full calf binding. Marbled endpapers. Tail of spine is restored, otherwise a very good clean copy. The previous owner’s name ‘Alexander Pavlov’ in period manuscript at the beginning and end of the text, The same name is crossed out on the title page.

Rare Russian imprint as only nine copies were found in Worldcat (Library of Congress, Cornell University, Yale University, Harvard University, New York Public Library, University of Michigan, University of Toronto, Berlin State Library, National Diet Library in Japan). The primary source of the early history of Russian-Japanese relations closely connected with the first Russian circumnavigation (1803-1806) under the command of Ivan Krusenstern and the Russian-American Company under Nikolay Rezanov (1764-1807). "In 1807 Golovnin was commissioned by the Russian government to survey the coasts of Kamchatka, the Russian American colonies and the Kuril Islands " (Howgego 1800-1850, G15).

The book describes the rescue operation organized by Captain Peter Rikord on the Imperial Russian sloop "Diana " as a result of the famous diplomatic Golovnin incident (1811-1813), which brought Russia and Japan to the brink of war.

The conflict started in 1804 during Krusenstern’s circumnavigation, which brought the first Russian embassy headed by N. Rezanov to Japan. The embassy was unsuccessful, relations between Russia and Japan weren’t established, and Russian ships were strictly prohibited from approaching Japanese shores. Rezanov planned revenge. Following his instructions, two ships, "Yunona " and "Avos " belonging to the Russian-American Company and under the command of young navy officers Nikola Khvostov and Gavriil Davydov in 1806-1807 sailed to the Japanese territories of Southern Sakhalin, Kuril Islands and Hokkaido, and robbed and burned the settlements there, and captured several Japanese. Although both Kvostov and Davydov were arrested as soon as they arrived in Okhotsk and sent to Saint Petersburg to be tried, the attitude of the Japanese to Russians significantly deteriorated; they considered Russia to be preparing for a war against Japan.

In 1808-1811, the Russian sloop "Diana " under the command of Vasily Golovnin and Peter Rikord, as the second-in-command, was sent as a second official Russian circumnavigation with the purpose of exploration and surveying of the Russian Far East, Kamchatka and Alaska. Upon return from Russian America in 1810, Golovnin started to chart the Kuril Islands. During his short stop at the island of Kunashir, Golovnin, his two officers and four sailors were taken prisoners, transported to the island of Hokkaido, and they were kept in prison near the town of Matsumae for over two years.

The peaceful solution to the conflict became possible only as a result of the friendly relationship between Peter Rikord, who organized and led three expeditions to rescue his commander Golovnin, and the prominent Japanese businessman and public figure Takadaya Kahei (1769-1827), who was captured by Rikord with his ship Kanze-maru, and stayed in Russia for several months. Takadaya Kahei learned Russian, and upon returning home, he convinced the Japanese government that the Russians could be trusted. The Russian sailors were then released from Japanese captivity (no one in history has ever returned from Japanese captivity before).

This work describes the story of Golovnin’s capture and rescue in a very captivating manner. The plates depict the views of the harbours and ports of Edermo (modern-day Erimo) and Hakodate, plans of the special facilities built for the negotiations, and a portrait of Takadaya Kahei. Rikord’s book supplements the book by Golovnin, titled “Captivity in Japan During the Years 1811, 1812, 1813” (SPb., 1816).