Author: Anonymous [Manley, Sir Roger]
Title: The Russian Impostor: Or, the History of Muskovie, Under the Usurpation of Boris and the Imposture of Demetrius, Late Emperors of Muskovy
Description: London, Printed by J. C. for Thomas Basset, at the George in Fleet Street, near Cliffords Inne, 1674. First Edition. First edition; 6 3/4 x 4; pp. [8], 1-250; 3/4 polished calf and marbled boards; rebacked; spine in 5 panels with raised bands and gilt decorations; engraved printer's device to title page verso; engraved vignette at beginning of first chapter; thin rubbed line along hinge of title page obscuring the first letter of the title; period brown-ink smudge and a small puncture to upper corner of title page; edges of first few leaves a bit brittle with several small nicks; two bookplates to endpapers - the first, that of Colonel Robert Coleman Hall Brock (1861 - 1906) - prominent lawyer, financier, and scientist; the second, that of Thomas Mitchell - possibly Scottish Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792 - 1855 ) - surveyor and explorer of Southeastern Australia; a third, period signature to bottom of last page; overall in very good condition. Called one of the earliest British scholarly histories of Russia written, the book's authorship had been attributed to several figures, including John Merrick, Chief Agent of the English Muskovy Company. In fact, the work was written by Sir Roger Manley (1626 - 1688) - soldier, translator, and author. Despite writing about the Time of Troubles without, allegedly, ever travelling to Russia, Manley still produced a secondary source of great historiographical interest. (Loewenson, Leo. “Sir Roger Manley's History of Muscovy: The Russian Impostor (1674).” The Slavonic and East European Review, vol. 31, no. 76, 1952, pp. 232–240.) (ESTC R22560, Wing M75) . Very good .

Keywords: California-Vbf, History, Russia


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