[Fletcher, Giles (1549?-1611), the elder]

Estimate

1,000 - 1,500 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Of the Russe Common Wealth. Or maner of governement by the Russe Emperour. London: T.D. for Thomas Charde, 1591

8vo (149 x 93mm.), ff. [3], 116, illustration: title-page within a typographical border, woodcut initials, binding: eighteenth-century sprinkled calf, spine gilt in compartments, without initial blank, A4 cropped at fore-margin with slight loss on verso

Literature

STC 11056

Catalogue Note

Giles Fletcher, poet and diplomat, was sent to Russia in June 1588 to secure the privileges granted to English merchants in Russia, a mission he completed successfully, leaving Russia in April 1589. Although parts of the work are original, such as his criticisms of the Tsar and his state, Fletcher also drew on the work of Herberstein and the accounts of English merchants.