Description: First edition; 4 3/4 x 3; pp. , 1-360, ; dark blue polished calf with lavish gilt decorations; card stock slipcase with gilt decorations identical to those on boards; gilt page edges, gilt dentelles; small rubbed spots to tips of spine and corners; hinges slightly weakened (text block still solidly attached); lacking silk page marker; illustrated with 19 steel-engraved plates; two small spots from bookplate removed on ffep; overall very good or better condition. Slipcase with small loss of paper to corners; a few scratches and cuts; good to very good condition.
Published at the end of the previous year and released on January 1 of each new year, lavishly illustrated and quite expensive for the times, the almanac was intended for use by not only military officers, but also "any educated persons" (Belinskii, V. (1959). Polnoe sobranie sochinenii ukazateli (Vol. XIII, p. 123). Moskva: Akademii nauk SSSR). This particular edition, apparently, contained 5 times more engraved plates than those for the previous years, and featured views of the Peterhof Palace, the Imperial Fleet, peasants in a village near Moscow, and more. Among the subjects included were a menology, postal schedule and prices, various taxes, and, most importantly, the changed and improved at the time state of ranks of the Army and the Navy, dress protocols, military schools, foreign affairs, and so on.