Sankt-Peterburg XVIII veka (Eighteenth-Century St. Petersburg)
St. Petersburg: Kniga, 2008. sewn cl. The author uses many first sources to reexamine the extraordinary history of a city that arose rapidly and within a few decades had some of the finest buildings and urban vistas in Europe. Studying contemporary accounts of planning and construction, he emphasizes architectural history; in several cases he has identified architects mostly from Italy and Germany whose role in the city’s formation has hitherto been unknown. Especially useful sources were written records of the city by Western European visitors or ambassadors. Fresh research has established the importance of government departments in the building of the city, particularly after Peter the Great’s reign, when the tsar’s powerful impulse was no more. The author has selected illustrations that not only fix the city’s image at various stages in its first century, but reveal the process of its development, such as engravings of street scenes of carpenters and masons at work, engineers’ drawings of bridges and embankments. 574 pp., 6 x9 ins., 270 b-&-w illus., Rus. Item #317
ISBN: 9785901805381
Price: $36.00