MOSCOW. 
many years there, without ever hearing the 
names of some of them ; whereas at Petersburg 
a few only are found, who all belong to the 
Court, and are therefore all known. The 
nobles of Moscow have, many of them, formerly 
figured in the presence of their sovereign, and 
have been ordered to reside in this city ; or 
they have passed their youth in foreign travel, 
and have withdrawn to their seats in its 
environs. Many of them have magnificent 
libraries ; and, as the amusement of collecting, 
rather than the pleasure of reading books, has 
been the reason of their forming those sump- 
tuous collections, the booksellers receive orders 
to a very large amount'. When a Russian 
nobleman reads, which is a very rare circum- 
stance, it is commonly a novel; either some 
licentious trash in the French language, or some 
English romance translated into that language. 
Of the latter, the ‘ Italian ’ of Mrs. Radcliffe 
has been better done than any other ; because, 
representing customs which are not absolutely 
local, it admits of easier transition into any 
other European tongue. But when any attempt 
(l) These orders are sometimes given in the style related of Rtmshy 
Kormkof, a serjeant in the Guards, who succeeded Zaritz in the 
affections of Catherine the Secono. This man sent for a bookseller, 
and said, “ Fit me up a handsome library: little boohs above, and great 
ones below.” 
