CATHERINE II, 'the Great'. O dvorianstve [On the Nobility]. [Moscow, Senate Press] 1785 [but c.1788].
Foolscap folio. Contemporary marbled wrappers (new backstrip); pp. [6], VIII, 24; dampstain to lower outer corners; otherwise very good; provenance: Van Brienen (signature, dated '93).
A rare and notorious edict, outlining the duties of the nobility, broadened and tightened their hold over the population, and increased the burden of serfdom following the Pugachev rebellion. This copy may have belonged to an associate of the trading company R. Van Brienen, owner of the Russian ship 'Soleure', now remembered for its peripheral role in the assassination of the Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.
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