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Rare first edition, published by subscription, of the first English Russian dictionary to be printed in Britain. The author was induced to undertake this Work, in consequence of the very increasing Commerce between England and Russia, and from a conviction in his own mind of the necessity of having some Guide by which the English Trader, not conversant in the Russian Language, might soon acquire such a Pronunciation as to render himself intelligible to the Russian, without having recourse to the laborious and difficult task of learning the Russian Characters, which would appear so formidable to his imagination, that he would be deterred from making the attempt (Preface). This publication is far less and far more than a dictionary. The dictionary section is in fact a relatively limited vocabulary of about 650 words intended to be of use to merchants and their agents … It is hard to believe that this can have been much use to those seeking to sell their wares in Russia. The compiler s knowledge of Russian seems to have been limited; his name, moreover, is German-sounding [although a member of the Russia Company, he was originally from Riga], and the transliterations may owe something to a German accent. However, the book is immensely informative in other ways; the vocabulary is only the start of its 135 pages. There are statistics of Russian exports to Britain and other countries [including America], lists of goods prohibited from export or import, ships arriving at St Petersburg (more than half of them British at this time), the coinage, means of conveying goods to the interior … and translations of various Government edicts on trade, duties payable to the King of Denmark on goods for Britain passing the Elsinore Straits, and advice to ships masters and private travellers arriving at or departing from St Petersburg. Apparently they had to expect their luggage would be sealed and not released for up to twelve days, and advance notice of departure had to be advertised in Russian and German in the Petersburg papers so that any Russian having financial claims might make them. If the book did not foster linguistic knowledge and understanding, it obviously provided other types of valuable information to assist the trader (James Muckle, The Russian Language in Britain, 2008, pp. 19 20). Alston XIV, no. 471; Cat. Russica K-1357; Goldsmiths 17967; not in Kress, though there is a copy at Harvard s Baker Library. ESTC adds 4 others only: BL, LSE, NLS, Penn. 8vo (221 × 133 mm) in half-sheets, pp. v, [3], 135, [1]; leaves a little toned, some old waterstains to the first half of the bookblock; original publisher s pink boards, title printed within a decorative border to upper cover; sometime rebacked, corners worn, some soiling to the boards, but sound.
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