This “would seem to be the earliest account of the United States as seen through the eyes of a Russian” (Yarmolinsky, p17); first edition. Having served with Dmitri Senyavin on his Second Archipelago Expedition in 1806, Svinin was afforded a further opportunity to travel abroad when appointed secretary to the Russian Consul-General in Philadelphia. He held the post from 1811-13 and travelled predominantly along the East Coast from Virginia to Maine and then Newfoundland. The account is frequently comparative referring back to Russia. However, it is notable for providing one of the earliest descriptions of gospel music in America.
The work is considerably enhanced by the illustrations, all engraved after the author's own drawings. The plates are as follows: 1. An African-American Methodist service; 2. A paddle steamer; 3. View of Morrisville. General Moreau's country house; 4. Niagara Falls; 5. A group of Native Americans; 6. Cod fishing off the coast of Newfoundland. (Svinin's original watercolours are held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.)
A German edition was printed in 1816 and a second Russian edition in 1818. OCLC locates 10 copies. An incomplete copy was sold at Christie's in 2006, the last complete copy (outside Russia) appeared on the market in 1992.
Not in Howgego; Howes "b"; Obolyaninov, 2417; Sabin, 93992; Yarmolinsky, "Picturesque United State of America 1811, 1812, 1813, being a Memoir on Paul Svinin," 1930; Swoboda, M & whisehunt, W. A Russian Paints America. The Travels of Pavel P. Svin'in, 1811-1813.
