Through Siberia, The Land of the Future

1914, first UK edition of Fridtjof Nansen's travels through Russia

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition. Hardback, bound in the original blue cloth with (faded) titling to spine, and printed white titling to upper board. 25.5 × 18cm, xvi + 478pp.

Not signed as such but with the rather dramatic bookplate and ownership signature of Ewart Vincent Tempest, a decorated World War One intelligence officer and author.

This book chronicles Nansen's journey through Siberia, the vast and (then) largely unexplored region of Russia. His journey started in St. Petersburg, through the cities of Moscow, Kazan, and Irkutsk, and then further into Siberia. He travelled by train, horse-drawn carriage, and on foot, and provides notes on the people he met, their cultures, the landscape, and the natural history of the environment he saw. Nansen believed Siberia had the potential to become a major economic and political power in the future with its vast natural resources, including timber, minerals, and fertile land, which could be harnessed to fuel Russia's growth and development.

The book is illustrated with many black and white photographs, and three folding maps.

Condition

A decent copy. The titling to the spine is faded, and there is moderate bumping to the corners. The pages and page edges have light and occasional spotted foxing but otherwise remain in strong readable condition. One of the plate pages is neatly detached but present and in the correct place. The maps in good order, with some light foxing to the folds.