[LECOINTE DE LAVEAU (Georges). Moscow before and after the fire, or notice containing the description of this capital and the manners of its inhabitants; with a glance at the situation of Europe at the opening of the Russian campaign; the account of the events which occurred during the fire, and during the occupation of the French; finally, the relation of their retreat from Moscow to Kœnisberg e, 1812; By two eyewitnesses. Paris : Gide fils, 1818. - In-8, granite calf, gilt roulette on the edges of the boards, ornate spine, gilt roulette inside, marbled edges (period binding). Second enlarged edition of this work by Georges Lecointe de Laveau, secretary of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow. The original appeared in 1814. We find these details in the preface: "By publishing this work, the aim of the editors is to make known more a nation which astonished Europe by a brilliant act of patriotism, by the generosity of its Sovereign and by the discipline of its armies. [It is time to recognize the immense progress of Russia towards civilization; it is all the more remarkable because, by its geographical position, it had to bear all the costs. The Russians had to study foreign languages in order to enter into relations with the other peoples of Europe; they had to silence their national pride in order to adopt, as they have done, everything that seemed better in foreign countries than in their own. Very nice copy in contemporary binding. It is complete with the publisher's catalog at the end. Some foxing.