Bookvica

[RAC] Rossiysko-amerikanskaya kompaniya i izucheniye Tikhookeanskogo Severa, 1799-1815: Sbornik dokumentov [i.e. The Russian-American Company and the Exploration of the North Pacific, 1799-1815: Collection of documents] / [Russian Academy of Sciences. Department of History. Russian State Archives of the Navy; Compied by A.E. Ioffe, L.I. Spiridonova, head of the editorial board: N.N. Bolkhovitinov

Item #2570

Moscow: Nauka, 1994. 278 pp.; 26,6x17 cm. Original grey cloth with gilt lettering on the front cover. Near condition. A small fragment of the bottom of front cover is chipped.

First edition.

The collection of documents on the founding of Russian American Company and the first Russian circumnavigation voyages, became available for the broader public for the first time after the publication of this volume. The full list of archives, that gave access to the compliers, preparing this publication included Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, Department of History of Russian Antiquities, Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library, Department of Manuscripts of the Russian National Library, Russian State Archives of the Navy, Russian State Archives of Ancient Acts, Russian State Military Historical Archive, Russian State Historical Archive.
Of 168 documents, published in the volume, the majority are published for the first time. The already published ones included only if the compliers felt that they are needed to give the reader fuller picture of the events, covered in other documents. The documents included in the collection are varied - these are decrees, rescripts, instructions, directives, reports, dispatches; letters of N.P. Rezanov, N.S. Mordvinov, N.P. Rumyantsev, I.F. Kruzenshtern, Yu.F. Lisyansky, P.V. Chichagov.
The volume contains materials on almost all the first round-the-world voyages made by Russians at the beginning of the 19th century: on the round the world voyages of the Neva, Nadezhda and Diana, the brig Rurik and the ship Suvorov. Documents on the activities of the Russian-American Company include numerous financial documents, annual reports, reports from RAC correspondents to the Main Board, etc., and, accordingly, reports from the Main Board to Emperor Alexander I and the Minister of Commerce, Count N.P. Rumyantsev. The collection includes instructions for participants in round-the-world expeditions and the main ruler A.A. Baranov, documents related to the mission of N.P. Rezanov to Japan, to his trip to California, documents concerning the description of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin, the development of the Aleutian Islands, the northwest coast of America and the territories adjacent to the Bering Strait.

All official state documents, related to Russian Alaska were located in Novo-Arkhangelsk, according to the 1867 agreement on the sale of Russian America, were subject to transfer to the United States of America and are now stored in the US National Archives. The compilers did not include them in the collection. In addition to the documentary sources listed above, included were journals of round-the-world voyages, diaries and memoirs of participants in the events. Among previously unpublished sources, important are the "Journal of the Court of His Imperial Majesty Chamberlain N.P. Rezanov" and the diary of midshipman G.I. Davydov about the voyage on the tender "Avos" to the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin, which are full of information and have practically not yet entered into wide scientific circulation prior to this edition. Many interesting facts are contained in the diary of A. Khlebnikov, navigator of the expedition V.M. Golovnin (doc. Nº 149); as well as the journal of lieutenant S. Ya. Unkovsky (doc. No. 167) about the voyages on the ship "Suvorov" in 1813-1816.
The volume is supplied with two indexes: the index of the ships and the index of the name for easier navigation. List of the name mentions short bios of the explorers, usually their role on the ship in question or a position on land.

Price: $500.00