166. "Description of Moldavia (Letter of Moldavia)" by Dimitrie Cantemir, first edition in Romanian, printed at Neamț Monastery, 1825.

The book consists of three parts: the first part is dedicated to the geographical description of Moldova, the mountains, waters and plains. Here Dimitrie Cantemir designed the first known map of Moldova and presented the flora and fauna, the markets and the country's capitals over time. The second part of the work depicts the political and administrative organization of the country. The author offered detailed references to the form of the state, the election or removal from the throne of the rulers, the customs prompted by the enthronement of the rulers or their dismissal, by engagement, weddings, funerals. In the last part of the work, entitled "About church matters and learning in Moldova", there is information about the Moldavian dialect, about the words used which at the beginning were Latin, "following the example of all other nations whose language stems from the Roman one". The work is interesting not only for its well-documented geographic or political description, but also for its ethnographic and folkloric observations. Dimitrie Cantemir was the first Romanian scholar to include ethnography and folklore in his research scope. The copy is in 4° format, with 4 unnumbered leaves and 344 pages. The title is framed in a border with floral motifs. On the verso of the title page is the coat of arms of Moldova engraved by Archpriest Mihail. The print is black, with 24 rows per page, the frontispieces and initials are ornamented. The paper is of different thicknesses, made by hand.

Dimensions

width 18 cm, height 21 cm

Research information

BRV III p. 1234

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