As time passes, increasing numbers of critical translations of primary sources are appearing in English. In conjunction with the secondary literature and native English-language primary sources, these works can be employed to great effect. As with other selections presented in this web site, this list is not exhaustive.

Laws and Public Documents

• Catherine II's Charters of 1785 to the Nobility and the Towns. Trans. and ed. by David Griffiths and George E. Munro. Bakersfield, Calif. : C. Schlacks, Jr., 1991. Located in the Davis Library Stacks, 6th Floor: KLA2140. A291785 A 64 1991.

• Russia under Catherine the Great: Catherine the Great's Instruction (Nakaz) to the Legislative Commission, 1767. Edited with a new introduction, bibliography, and newly translated sections by Paul Dukes. Newtonville, Massachusetts: Oriental Research Partners, 1977. Located in the Davis Library Stacks, 4th Floor: DK171 .R87 vol. 2.

• Russia under Catherine the Great: Select Documents on Government and Society. Translated and introduced by Paul Dukes. Newtonville, Massachusetts: Oriental Research Partners, 1978. Located in the Davis Library Stacks, 4th Floor: DK171 .R87 vol. 1. These three compilations of laws and public documents do not offer the researcher a glimpse of Russian reality, but they can often be read as a statement of official intentions and perhaps, even, of wishful thinking. These key primary source documents are presented along with very useful scholarly critiques and discussions.

Memoirs and Literary Works

• Coxe, William. An Account of the Prisons and Hospitals in Russia, Sweden, and Denmark: With Occasional Remarks on the Different Modes of Punishments in those Countries. London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1781. Located in Davis Library Stacks, 5th Floor: HV8532.R9 C693 1982.

• ---------.Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark interspersed with historical relations and political inquiries. 3 vols. Dublin : Printed for S. Price [etc.] 1784. Located in the Rare Book Collection: Backlog # 17356. A fair number of Englishmen and women, including Thomas Malthus and the Benthams, traveled to Russia during Catherine's reign. Their works are filled with detailed descriptions of Russian life, both the charming and the horrifying. See the bibliography by Harry Nerhood for similar sources.

• Dashkova, Ekaterina Romanovna. The Memoirs of Princess Dashkova. Translated and edited by Kyril Fitzlon. Introduction by Jehanne M. Gheith. Afterword by A. Woronzoff-Dashkoff. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1995. Located in Davis Library Stacks, 4th Floor: DK169. D3 A3 1995. Dashkova led a colorful life. During the early reign of Catherine II, she served as President of the Academy of Sciences and founded the Russian Academy. These exceptional public roles were partially a reward for Dashkova's role in the coup that ended Peter III's rule and brought Catherine to power. Her relationship with Catherine is a recurrent theme in this early autobiography. As with all memoirs, use with a degree of skepticism.

• Radishchev, Aleksandr Nikolaevich. A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Translated by Leo Wiener. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Roderick Page Thaler. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1966. Located in the Davis Library Stacks, 5th Floor: HN525. R313. This book caused quite a stir when it was published. It also landed its author in jail. Told in the form of a travel narrative, this work decried the pain and suffering that men caused, including serfdom and prostitution, and argued that real meaningful reform, though lacking, was the only hope for Russia's future.

• Segal, Harold B. The Literature of Eighteenth-Century Russia: A History and Anthology. 2 vols. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1967. These volumes provide translations to many important literary works that simply are not widely available in English.