A Russian Looks at America [1857] reprint

Product Description

A Russian Looks at America: The Journey of Aleksandr Borisovich Lakier in 1857. Translated from the Russian and edited by Arnold Schrier and Joyce Story. IL (Chicago): University of Chicago Press, 1979. Hardcover with dustjacket in about fine condition, jacket in Mylar. 1 copy only.

Alexander Borisovich Lakier (Александр Борисович Лакиер) (1825-1870), born in the city of Taganrog, was a Russian historian of German descent who was interested in heraldry. His father was the doctor who certified the death of Alexander I. In the mid-1800's, Lakier traveled across Europe, Palestine and America. He kept a travel diary, fragments of which were published in Sovremennik (1858) and The Russian Messenger (1858). Alexander Borisovich's most famous work was "Russian Heraldry" (Saint Petersburg, 1855), still valuable today. Lakier made an attempt to analyze and explain coats of arms of Russian dukes and nobility. The volume also featured the history of Russian stamps.