First Edition. Octavo (ca. 24x16 cm). [6], 187 pp. Period brown half sheep with marbled papered boards and a red sheep label on the spine with faded gilt lettering. Corners slightly bumped, several pages in the middle partly detached from the stub, but overall a very good copy.

Very rare Russian imprint with only seven paper copies found in Worldcat (University of California, Los Angeles; Brown University; Oregon Historical Society Research Library; Leiden University; State Library of Berlin; University of Erfurt; University of Darmstadt). The book is based on the expedition undertaken in the summer of 1876 on the Imperial Academy of Sciences assignment. Poliakov went from Saint Petersburg through Perm, Yekaterinburg and Tumen to Tobolsk and sailed down the Irtysh and Ob rivers to the Ob’s mouth, spending about a month in Obdorsk (Salekhard). He then sailed along the coast of the Gulf of Ob to the mouth of the Nadym River, visiting numerous fishing settlements of native Ostiak (Khanty) people.

Poliakov thoroughly described the Irtysh, Ob and Nadym rivers, the shores of the Arctic Ocean at the Gulf of Ob, and its geography, flora, and fauna. Two lengthy chapters (V and VI) are dedicated to the Khanty people - their life conditions, occupations, customs, religious beliefs, food, costumes, etc. Chapter VII discusses steamer navigation and cargo transportation on the Ob River, fisheries and ecological problems they caused, the author’s voyage on the “Sibiryak” steamer, &c. The purpose of the book is "to draw a picture of the most remarkable features of the nature of this land and its inhabitants" (Preface).

Ivan Poliakov was a Russian geographer, zoologist and writer, the curator of the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Born near the River Argun on Russian-Chinese border, he studied in Irkutsk, and later in Saint Petersburg University. After meeting members of the Eastern-Siberian department of the Russian Geographical Society, Poliakov went on several scientific travels to Siberia (Olekma basin, Lake Baikal, Sajani), Northern and Central Russia, Caucasus, Sakhalin and Japan. He edited "The Proceedings of the Russian Geographical Society" and wrote about 50 articles on numerous topics of natural history and geography. For his work Poliakov was awarded with the silver and small gold medals of the Russian Geographical Society.