Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 1, 1851).djvu/30

ii by many (and one of the number is the learned historian, August Ludwig Schlözer himself) worthy of the designation of the “Discoverer of Russia”. The “Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii” has been a standing book of reference for all subsequent historians of the great empire of the north; and it is not without good reason that the distinguished biographer of Herberstein, Friedrich Adelung (to whose works, as quoted below, the editor is mainly indebted for the materials of this introduction) expresses his surprise that a work of such importance should so long have remained untranslated, either into the Polish, the French, the Dutch, or the English languages. Especially is this expression of astonishment applicable, as he justly observes, to England and Holland,—countries which have for nearly three centuries maintained commercial relations with the Russian empire. The scope of the work comprises brief but interesting, and in many cases highly amusing, sketches of the history, antiquities, geography, and productions of the country, with the religion, form of government, peculiarities in matters of warfare, trade, domestic habits, and amusements of the people.

The advantages possessed by Herberstein for collecting all the materials requisite for the supply of this extensive range of information, were various and im-