I to i sio. [St Petersburg: for M. Chulkov, at the Press of the Sea Cadets Corps, 1769.] 51 parts (of 52) in one volume, 4° (184 x 108mm). Verso of final leaf with bookseller’s catalogue. (Lacking issue 39, this evidently never bound in; some small marginal repairs, occasional marginal spotting, marginal ink spots, faint dampstains.) Contemporary Russian half calf, spine with raised bands and blind-tooled in compartments, gilt label, edges red (spine expertly repaired, extremities rubbed, rear free endpaper repaired). Provenance: Naryshkinskaia osobaia biblioteka v g. Tambove (19th-century stamps; deaccessioned in the 1930s).

I to i sio. [St Petersburg: for M. Chulkov, at the Press of the Sea Cadets Corps, 1769.] 51 parts (of 52) in one volume, 4° (184 x 108mm). Verso of final leaf with bookseller’s catalogue. (Lacking issue 39, this evidently never bound in; some small marginal repairs, occasional marginal spotting, marginal ink spots, faint dampstains.) Contemporary Russian half calf, spine with raised bands and blind-tooled in compartments, gilt label, edges red (spine expertly repaired, extremities rubbed, rear free endpaper repaired). Provenance: Naryshkinskaia osobaia biblioteka v g. Tambove (19th-century stamps; deaccessioned in the 1930s).

FIRST EDITION of this rare and early satirical periodical, produced in the main by Mikhail Chulkov, and taking as its point of departure Vsiakaia vsiachina, the periodical commissioned by Catherine II. Aiming to provide light entertainment rather than profound reflection, I to i sio is especially rich in folklore, fables, superstitions, jokes, proverbs and other popular topics. Rare. Not in WorldCat; no sale recorded on ABPC or RBH. Bitovt 1651; SK IV, 163.