Varenius, Bernhard.

folio (314 x 198mm.), engraved title-page and frontispiece by Aleksei Zubov, engraved section-title at start of each book, 4 folding letterpress tables, woodcut initials and tailpieces, 3 woodcut diagrams, contemporary Russian speckled calf, gilt border composed of drawer handle tools and small flowers, spine gilt in compartments with title lettered in second compartment, leaf 12 of preliminaries torn without loss, B1 with inkstains, [long i.e. eta] E2 and Gg4 torn and repaired without loss of text, O4 and Yy1 torn and repaired (but before printing), Yu2, Dd2 and Zz2 torn without loss, pp.297-298 a cancellans?, binding scraped and rubbed, some wormholes in binding, upper cover almost detached, spine chipped at head and foot, some gilding faded

J. Cracraft, The Petrine Revolution in Russian Culture (2004), appendix I, no.27

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

One of the earliest geographical treatises to be published in Russian, translated from Varenius's Geographia generalis (first published in Amsterdam in 1650), probably at the behest of Peter the Great and printed in his new civil typeface. The translator's page-long preface explains that some terms were left in the original Latin or Greek if there was no sufficient Russian word. His first draft of the text used elegant vocabulary in order to follow Varenius's Latin more closely, but Peter the Great ordered him to simplify the language and remove Slavonic archaisms.

Varenius's text is a substantial one, moving from Copernicanism to navigation and geology. Many of the concepts were new to the Russian mind and Polikarpov's text, like many translations of European works being carried out at this time, comprises many neologisms that became a permanent part of the Russian language.

While there are a number of copies recorded in Russian libraries, we have not been able to trace any copies in the UK or elsewhere in Europe. There are three copies recorded in the US. The last to appear at auction were the two Diaghilev-Lifar copies, in 1975.