58 - GAUTHIER (Théophile) - *Voyage en Russie*, Paris: Charpentier, 1867. First edition in 2 volumes.

GAUTHIER (Théophile) - *Voyage en Russie*, Paris: Charpentier, 1867. First edition in 2 volumes. Ex Libris Jean LARTEGUY. Théophile Gautier made two trips to Russia, the first during the winter of 1858–1859 and the second in 1861. This was the writer’s longest stay abroad. As this was a journey with an artistic purpose, Gautier obtained a letter of recommendation from Minister Fould and was received in Russia almost as an official ambassador, as Russia viewed this French writer favorably, knowing he would reveal its artistic treasures to the Western world. It was Moscow and Saint Petersburg that interested Gautier, and his visits and descriptions would be limited to these two Russian cities. Théophile Gautier’s two trips to Russia (in 1858–1859 and 1861), which together lasted longer than his stays in any other foreign country, resulted in a book—the longest travelogue this great traveler ever wrote. The journalist-poet, who stayed in St. Petersburg and Moscow at the beginning of Alexander II’s reign, took no interest in the country’s politics or social life; he sought another, mythical Russia, from which emerges a dizzying amalgam of ethereal scenes, the intoxication of fleeting visions, and the spellbinding allure of the icy hues of a misty infinity. Formerly in the Jean LARTEGUY collection, acquired through the estate of Mrs. L.