First edition of an important and controversial account of Enlightenment Russia under Catherine the Great.
The atlas volume is notable for its fine panoramic views of cities and palaces by Auvray, Fessard, Niquet, and Née after Louis-Nicolas de Lespinasse. Le Clerc came to Russia as a physician under Empress Elizabeth; his history of Confucius later won him the favor of Empress Catherine. He secured several important posts in Moscow, which gave him access to rare historical sources and to contacts with leading Russian historiographers such as Mikhail Shcherbatov. While the present history was a great success in Europe—the Italian newspaper Notizie del Mondo wrote that “the work is perfect and unique in its kind because it is based on the most recent information” (no. 26, 1784)—Le Clerc’s framing of Russian history as a journey from “barbarism” to the Enlightenment was deeply offensive to his Russian colleagues. Catherine commissioned a refutation from Ivan Nikitich Boltin, which was published in 1788 and became a classic of historiography.

Brunet III, 916; Cohen-de Ricci 613; Russia Engages the World, pp. 54, 57.