Lot 130: ROBINSON, Robert Spencer (1809-1889). O Morskoi parovoi mashinie, o eia sile i deistvii . [The Nautical Steam Engine Explained.] St. Petersburg: at the Navy Press, 1844.

ROBINSON, Robert Spencer (1809-1889). O Morskoi parovoi mashinie, o eia sile i deistvii. [The Nautical Steam Engine Explained.] St. Petersburg: at the Navy Press, 1844.

8° (219 x 140mm). 4 folding engraved plates. (Repaired tear in one text margin, some spotting, plates with a few creases). Contemporary purple cloth with a raised floral pattern, spine lettered in gilt, the sides with a gilt border and centred with a gilt arabesque, gilt edges, pink coated endpapers (spine evenly faded, light wear). Provenance: Maximilian, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg (1817-1852; bookplate) -- A. Herenroth.

FIRST EDITION IN RUSSIAN. THE LEUCHTENBERG COPY. Robinson was a central figure in converting a fleet of wooden sailing ships to an iron-hulled fleet powered by steam. 'Robinson's expertise, character, and long service gave him a powerful voice in the formation of naval policy and strategy, especially in those aspects relating to construction... His policy defeated the impressive French naval challenge, and exploited the victory by developing the equipment for a strategy of power projection, including the destruction of fortified arsenals by naval forces' (ODNB). Translated from the English by Pavel Ivanovich Kruzenshtern, later Vice Admiral of the Russian Fleet, and son of the famed circumnavigator. Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg married Mariia Nikolaevna, eldest and favourite daughter of Nicholas I. RARE: apparently not in WorldCat or Copac.

MARIA FEODOROVNA, Empress Consort of
Est. £2,000 - £3,000
($3,204 - $4,806)