Travels from St Petersburg in Russia, to Diverse Parts of Asia Travels from St Petersburg in Russia, to Diverse Parts of Asia 2 Volume Set Series

John Bell (1691?1780) trained as a physician, but preferred a life of travel and diplomacy. He entered the service of Tsar Peter the Great of Russia, and had already taken part (as the expedition's doctor) in a government mission to Persia in 1715?18 when he was asked to join a further embassy to China. This two-volume work, published in 1763, describes both these journeys. The first part of Volume 1 contains an account of the Persian expedition, and the second a narrative of the journey across Siberia to the walls of Beijing. It includes fascinating anecdotes of the peoples encountered, and their environment, beliefs and customs, including a female Siberian shaman, the pet musk deer of an exiled Swedish general, and the interdependence of marmots and rhubarb (at this time a valuable medicinal drug). This is a delightful account of an area then hardly known in the west.

List of subscribers; Preface; Part I. A Journey from St Petersburg in Russia, to Ispahan in Persia: 1. From St Petersburg to Cazan; 2. Occurrences during our stay at Cazan; 3. Occurrences during our stay at Astrachan; 4. Occurrences during our stay at Shamachy; 5. Occurrences during our stay at Tauris; 6. Occurrences during our stay at Ispahan; 7. From Ispahan to Shamachy; 8. From Shamachy to St Petersburg; Part II: A Journey from St Petersburg in Russia, to Pekin in China: 1. From St Petersburg to Tobolsky, the capital of Siberia; 2. Occurrences at Tobolsky; 3. Occurrences at Tomsky; 4. Observations on Yakutsky and Kamtzatsky, and journey continued to Irkutsky; 5. From Irkutsky, cross the Lake Baykall, to Selinginsky; 6. Occurrences at Selinginsky; 7. From passing the Saratzyn, and entering the Chinese territories, to our arrival at the wall of China; 8. From the wall of China to Pekin.