113 - [Russia]. CZYNSKI, Jean.

[Russia]. CZYNSKI, Jean. Picturesque Russia: History and Description of Russia. Paris: Pilout, successor to Postel, 1837. 2 parts in one oblong quarto volume, 383 pp. in continuous pagination, with 2 title pages and 2 tables bound at the beginning of the book. Contemporary taupe half-basane leather, smooth spine accented with gilt scrolls, gilt title (a few foxing spots on the first few folios, slight wear to the binding). Only one entry in the CCFr (BnF). A rare work, particularly given the large number of plates, depicting buildings, landscapes, costumes, tribes, and the daily life of the peoples of these regions, as well as urban scenes from early 19th-century Russia. May be confused with other editions containing fewer plates, as this work was published in several installments, resulting in variations among existing copies. Illustrated with 58 plates—lithographs or engravings in black—by Gatti, Lhuillier, or Raimhein Of Jewish origin, though a Catholic, the Fourierist lawyer Jan Kazimierz Czynski, known as Jean Czynski (1801–1867), made early efforts to draw attention to the plight of Jews on the borders of the former Kingdom: by refusing to separate this cause from that of the rest of the Polish nation under Russian or Prussian rule, he stood out as an exception among the leading figures of Polish nationalism. Exiled to Paris, then to Brussels and London, he was among the most active advocates for both causes and was close to the Polish historian Joachim Lelewel. Together with Zoé de Valmond, he founded the journal *Le Nouveau Monde*, the mouthpiece of the dissidents within the Harmonian Union.