David Mason Fine and Rare Books

WALLACE, D. Mackenzie.
Russia.

London: Cassell Petter & Galpin, 1877. In two volumes. Fifth edition. Tall  8vo., full cont. calf, raised bands, gilt compartments, leather spine labels,  xiv, 466; viii, 472pp. With two folding maps. Inner hinges cracked, small split  in outer front hinges, some light rubbing but in fact a very good set.

Wallace [1841-1919] a newspaper correspondent, editor and author was engaged  in qualifying for a professorship in Comparative Law in Germany when he accepted  a private invitation to visit Russia. Wallace had expressed a desire to study  the Ossetes, a peculiar Aryan tribe in the Caucasus. However, he remained in  Russia nearly six years, studying not the Ossetes but the Russians. He  familiarized himself thoroughly with the life of the people by settling for long  periods in remote villages. In 1876 he returned to England where he published  the above volume, his most famous work. It met with instant success and went  through several editions and was translated into many languages. It was twice  revised by Wallace (1905 & 1912) and remains the standard authority on Russia  before the 1917 revolution.