Suede

1790 · K1VF2DNXCCLT — St. Petersburg 1790. Folio. 30 x 20 and 29.5 x 20.5 cm. Imperial Printing Office Unsewn marbled paper spine ad 1; side stitched blue paper spine ad 2. With the text in Russian and French in parallel columns and with ornamental rules at the head of each page. 10; 20 pp. First and only editions of two peace treaties between Catherine the Great of Russia and Gustav III of Sweden which concluded the Russo-Swedish war of 1788-1790 each page with the Russian text in the left column and the French text in the right column. The Treaty of Värälä signed on 14 August 1790 though here dated 6 August by Catherine's representative Otto Heinrich Igelström and Gustav II's proxy Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt effectively restored the pre-war status quo and barred Russia from interferring in Swedish internal affairs which had been one of the reasons Gustav III a cousin of Catherine the Great declared war on Russia in 1788. After initial defeats Sweden was able to destroy nearly a third of the Russian fleet at sea. The second treaty signed on 19 October 1791 at Drottningholm outside of Stockholm established a close military alliance between Sweden and the Russian Empire with each power pledging active support and Catherine agreeing to pay Sweden annual subsidies. Since it was signed with a keen eye on the French Revolution the treaty can been seen as a predecessor to the war of the first coalition of 1792-1797 though neither Russia nor Sweden participated in the latter. Both are printed on Russian paper with cyrillic names and initials in the watermarks. Very good copies old horizontal crease first and last leaves lightly soiled.l KVK & WorldCat ads 1 & 2 SUB Göttingen ad 1 Ohio State ad 2 Strassbourg; not in Bitovt. unknown