SHILDER N.K. (1842-1902) Imperator Pavel Pervyy. Istoriko-biograficheskiy ocherk [Emperor Paul I: A Historical and Biographical Essay]. With portraits, views, plans and autographs. St Petersburg: A.S. Suvorin, 1901.

[8], 606 pp., [33 of 34] plates, facsimiles; 29.5 x 20 cm. In a contemporary half-leather binding. Gilt leather spine with raised bands and leather corners, patterned paper on the boards and endpapers. In very good condition. Minor wear to the binding, one plate missing. Gilt supralibros ‘P.K.’ at the foot of the spine. The rarest work in the series of imperial biographies by the outstanding historian Nikolai Karlovich Shilder (1842-1902). He was one of the first scholars to turn to the life of Emperor Paul I, the study of whose biography had long been tacitly forbidden in the Russian Empire. While writing the book, Shilder gathered a vast quantity of documents, eyewitness accounts, letters and reports, and created an objective portrait of one of the most controversial Russian autocrats. This fundamental work follows the Emperor’s life day by day, from birth to death, and recreates a truthful picture of the reign of Paul I, reflecting the complexity of his activities.