[RUSSIA]
LOUBAT, J.F. and FOX, GUSTAVUS VASA. Narrative of the Mission to Russia, in 1866, of the Hon. Gustavus Vasa Fox, from the Journal and Notes of J.F. Loubat. New York: D. Appleton, 1873. First edition, inscribed "Miss Fanny Reed/compliments of J.F. Loubat/Paris April 12th, 1874." Publisher's beveled green pebbled cloth decorated in gilt and blind. 9 1/2 x 7 inches (24 x 18 cm); 444 pp., frontispiece and 12 engraved portrait plates. A very good copy given the heft of the book, the cloth extremities lightly rubbed, the first plate and one text leaf are detached and protruding a bit and bumped on the fore-edge, an occasional spot.

After the American Civil War, Gustavus Vasa Fox was dispatched to Russia to congratulate the Tsar on escaping assassination. At this time, Fox played a role in the negotiations for United States to acquire Alaska. This is a presentation copy from the French/American bibliophile, sportsman, and philanthropist Joseph Florimond Loubat who accompanied Fox on the diplomatic mission to Fanny Reed, likely the entertaining American singer who resided in Paris at the time of the inscription.