Bacmeister, Jean | Essai sur la bibliotheque et le cabinet de curiosites et d'histoire naturelle de l'Academie des Sciences de Saint Petersbourg

Bacmeister, Jean 

Essai sur la bibliotheque et le cabinet de curiosites et d'histoire naturelle de l'Academie des Sciences de Saint Petersbourg. St. Petersburg: Wetbrecht & Schnoor, 1776

8vo (187 x 115 mm). Contemporary Russian red morocco, gilt leaf border on sides, small floral ornaments in the corners; slightest wear to extremities, a fine copy. In a later marbled slipcase.

First edition. The St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, founded in 1724 by Peter the Great, drew its early holdings from the libraries of Areskinov, Pitkernova, and Binius, with most volumes in German or English. This guide was prepared by the under-librarian Bacmeister, likely a brother of H. L. C. Bacmeister; both were German scholars working in Russia. In 1738, an Imperial decree brought the Liderov medal collection from Hamburg into the institution. The Kunstkammer itself held notable natural-history specimens from the famed Seba and Ruysch collections—purchased by Peter during his travels in Holland—as well as globes and scientific instruments from Mikhail Lomonosov (who worked there from 1741 to 1765) and items from the czar’s own cabinet. A devastating fire in 1747 destroyed most of the original buildings, which were later rebuilt. Scarce: only two copies have appeared at auction in the past century.

PROVENANCE

Biblioteka Herzoga Georgia Georgievicha Meklenburgskago (19th-century bookplate, in Russian) — Hans Furstenberg (bookplate; inserted gift inscription to Bernard H. Breslauer, Chateau de Beaumesnil, 1980) — Bibliotheca Bibliographica Breslaueriana, The Second Portion (Christie’s New York, 22 March 2005, lot 871)