62 - PALLAS (Pierre Simon). Travels of Mr. P. S. Pallas in Various Provinces of the Russian Empire and in Northern Asia. Translated from the German by Gauthier de la Peyronie. Paris, Lagrange then Maradan, 1788–1793 and Year II [Atlas]. 5 volumes in-4, and a small folio atlas, modern half-calf, smooth spine, title label in red morocco (binding signed Ateliers Laurenchet). (2) ff., XXXII, 773 pp., (3) pp. of errata—(2) ff., 550 pp.; (1) p. of errata—(2) ff., 491 pp., (1) p. of errata—(2) ff., 722 pp., (2) pp. of errata—(2) ff., 559 pp., (1) p. of errata—Atlas: (2) ff., 108 plates, including 8 maps. Scattered foxing; a brown stain in the upper portion of approximately 40 pp. in Volume III.

PALLAS (Pierre Simon). Travels of Mr. P. S. Pallas in Various Provinces of the Russian Empire and in Northern Asia. Translated from the German by Gauthier de la Peyronie. Paris, Lagrange then Maradan, 1788–1793 and Year II [Atlas]. 5 volumes in-4, and a small folio atlas, modern half-calf, smooth spine, title label in red morocco (binding signed Ateliers Laurenchet). (2) ff., XXXII, 773 pp., (3) pp. of errata—(2) ff., 550 pp.; (1) p. of errata—(2) ff., 491 pp., (1) p. of errata—(2) ff., 722 pp., (2) pp. of errata—(2) ff., 559 pp., (1) p. of errata—Atlas: (2) ff., 108 plates, including 8 maps. Scattered foxing; a brown stain in the upper portion of approximately 40 pp. in Volume III. First edition of the French translation, accompanied by the second edition of the atlas, published in Year II [1794]. Peter Simon Pallas (1741–1811), a German naturalist summoned to Russia by Catherine II, took part in the vast scientific expedition organized under the auspices of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg. For nearly six years, from 1768 to 1774, he traveled across a vast portion of the Russian Empire, from the Volga and Ural regions to Siberia and the borders of China, in order to study its natural resources, populations, and territories. The observations gathered by Pallas made significant contributions to botany, zoology, geology, geography, and ethnology. The Atlas consists of 108 plates (fauna, natural history, costumes, etc.), including the large fold-out map of Russia (Tardieu), which is often missing. Its title page bears the words “new edition” and “Volume 9 (plates)” and is dated Year II.