Precis du Systeme, Des Progres et de l'Etat de l'Instruction Publique en Russie Redige d'apres des Documents Officiels

Varsovie. de l'Imprimerie de la Banque de Pologne, 1837. FIRST EDITION IN FRENCH. Tall 8vo, 250 x 162 mms., pp, [ii], iii [iv blank], 426 [427 - 428 Appendix, 429 - 432 index, 433 Errata, 434 blank], original printed wrappers, uncut and mostly unopened; library stamp on front cover and title-page, edges a bit soiled, but a very good copy. Krusenstern (1807 - 1888), son of the famous Russian admiral, worked in Russia's ministry of foreign affairs; he published this book on Russian education to correct the errors that he found in the expositions of foreign correspondents about Russia. The British and Foreign Review: Or, European Quarterly Journal for 1839 reviewed it at length (18 pages), noting that it is the result of solid research among obscure documents and resources: "These considerations would suffice to stamp this literary production as the work of a partisan, and consequently little worthy of our notice, if the author had not had the good sense to resort for support to official documents, and further the extraordinary courage to attempt to sum up in figures an abstract of the propagation of knowledge in his country." The reviewer notes that Krusenstern has found that civilization in Europe has been the "necessary consequence of the force of things," while in Russia, it is the "work of government." Towards the end of the review, the author asserts, "Thus does this new system of education in Russia induce the necessity of perpetual espionage in foreign countries." Plus ca change, plus c'est le meme chose.