Ukazanie važnejših prime atel nostej na puti ego imperatorskogo vyso estva gosudarja naslednika Cesarevi a: ("Places of interest on the route of his Imperial Majesty the Crown Prince").

St Petersburg: In the Military Printing House, , 1837. Russia is a book, but an animate one. Your Imperial Highness will be reading it Rare first and sole edition of this highly important account of a tour of Russia undertaken by the future Alexander II, the Tsar-Reformer, "the first heir to the throne to have personally seen the vast country he would rule" (Radzinsky, p. 60). With the armorial bookplate, incorporating the arms of Leuchtenberg, of Alexander's sister, the remarkable Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna. Alexander (1818-1881, reigned 1855-1881) was tutored by Pushkin's mentor Vassily Zhukovsky, one of the foremost Russian Romantic poets of the era. "When Zukovsky began his tutoring, Alexander was only seven. Zhukovsky devoted himself totally to the royal scion. The poet wrote to his sister, 'My real duty will take up all my time. Farewell forever to poetry with rhyme. A poetry of another sort lies ahead of me.' In his hands lay the future of Russia. Zhukovsky put together a ten-year plan of 'Journeys,' as the poet called the heir's education". Zhukovsky's scheme succeeded and the future tsar did well with his exams. "Now, according to the plan, the education was to be polished by two very important journeys. First Sasha would travel around his own country. He would travel for over six months around Russia's roadless expanses" (ibid.). Before departing, Zhukovsky made a speech, declaring that "Russia is a book, but an animate one. Your Imperial Highness will be reading it, but at the same time, it will be learning about its reader. This mutual comprehension is the true goal of this voyage". As he travelled throughout the European part of Russia, "the heir to the throne was met reverently by thousands of people wherever he went. As he travelled along the Volga in the Kostroma region, people stood knee-deep in the river for hours to get a glimpse of their earthly god... The tsarevich was the first Romanov heir to visit Siberia, where convicts and exiles were sent... He travelled around Russia for seven months, visiting thirty provinces. It was still not enough to cover the vast country, but at least now he had an idea of the boundless land he was to rule" (ibid.). As emperor, Alexander's most significant act was the Emancipation Reform of 1861, which effectively abolished serfdom in Russia. His experiences during the tour of 1837 had a profound effect on his thinking; in addition to the example of Zhukovsky, who, although not a rich man, had chosen to free his own serfs. Alexander's sister, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (1819–1876), was also educated by Zukhovsky, and became an accomplished watercolourist, as well as taking a keen interest in interior design. She was an avid art collector and in 1852 became president of the Imperial Academy of Arts. Unusually for her time she made a marriage for love, with Maximillian, duke of Leuchtenberg. On Maximillian's death in 1852, Maria made a secret and morganatic match with Count Grigori Stroganov, a further reflection of her open-mindedness and the influence, perhaps, of Zhukovsky. Alexander turned a blind eye to the marriage and, as Radzinsky remarks, "since the emperor could not permit his sister's misalliance, he paid special attention to her children by her first marriage, who lived in St Petersburg without their mother". Octavo (205 x 123 mm). Contemporary green half skiver, Spanish pattern marbled sides, smooth spine lettered and decorated in gilt. Old typed catalogue description loosely inserted. Shelfmark of the Russian National Library to spine. A light judicious restoration at spine ends and joints, gilt improved, contents clean and umarked. A very good copy indeed in a pleasing contemporary binding. Edward Radzinsky, Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar (2006); no copies recorded on WorldCat.