A pedestrian journey through Russia and Siberian Tartary to the frontiers of China, the frozen sea, and Kamchatka

Edinburgh: Constable and Co, 1829. New (third) edition. Each volume with half-title, author portrait in Volume I, engraved view of St. Petersburg in Volume I and of Irkutsk in Volume II, folding map in Volume II. Cloth-covered boards, morocco spine label, new endpapers; text exceptionally clean. A very good copy. New (third) edition of a lively narrative detailing a four-year journey intended to explore unmapped regions of the arctic coast of Siberia and other previously uncharted and obscure vacation spots. Traveling by foot for the duration of this journey, primarily due to financial reasons, Cochrane earned himself the nickname “The Pedestrian” from this venture. He describes the natives of these northern regions and their social and economic conditions. Of particular interest is his description of the fur trade, including an annual fair between Russia and the Chukchis. Although his intention had been to go to North America, he met and married a Kamtschatka woman and for some reason decided to end his travels.

Cochrane (1780-1825) was a British traveler and author who entered the Royal Navy at the very young age of ten. Given his penchant for exploration and discovery, Cochrane applied to join a group tasked with the exploration of the Niger, but the denial to that journey led to the exploration described in this work.