NOVIKOV, Nikolai Ivanovich (1744-1818)Opyt istoricheskago slovaria o rossiiskikh pisateliakh [A Historical Dictionary of Russian Authors.] St. Peterburg: [N.I. Novikov,] 1772. 8vo (180 x 105mm). (Some light marginal soiling and spotting, occasional light dampstain.) Contemporary mottled Russian calf, spine with raised bands blind-tooled in compartments, edges red (spine expertly repaired at the head, light wear). Provenance: 'B.S. 1714' (early shelf-mark and small label on the upper cover) -- some scattered marginalia in various hands.

This book is one of only 606 copies printed, of which perhaps only 150 survive (Bytovt 1989). Opyt was already difficult to find in the early 19th Century. As Kaufman quotes Metropolitan Evgenii at that time, already the whole edition is gone, and hunters will only track one down with great difficulty It is the first book to contain the biography of Lomonosov, and continued for many years to be the sole reference for Russian readers of Lomonosov`s life, amongst many other important authors. References: Bytovt 1756; Bytovt, Moscow: 1989, p. 11; Kaufman, Slovari, p. 285; M.K., Katalog russkago otdela 156; S.K. 4668; Sopikov 7827.

PROVENANCE
Christie`s, London, November 21, 2012, Lot 92