Dr. Graham Hogg, Curator (19th-Century Printed Collections and Photographs) writes: The National Library of Scotland is very grateful for FNL’s support, which has enabled it to add this important set to our collections.
The very first translation of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations into Russian was published between 1802-1806, was poorly regarded at the time, and is today virtually unobtainable. The translation which the Library purchased is the second translation, in three volumes, by P. A. Bibikov. There are no recorded copies of this work in UK libraries, and only five recorded by WorldCat in libraries around the world – in American and Japan. Volumes 2 & 3 from the incomplete copy held by the University of Illinois have been digitised and made freely accessible via Hathi Trust but there is no known complete digitised version of this work. The National Library of Scotland’s acquisition of this volume has made it easier for researchers in the UK and Europe to consult this work.
The Library acquired in 2009 a first edition of Bibikov's later translation of Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments which Bibikov regarded as complementary to his Wealth of Nations translation remarking in his preface to this translation, ‘the works reinforce each other. That is why, having published in Russian Adam Smith's great work of political economy, I decided to translate and publish his other work, which is no less remarkable, and yet known even less to Russian society than the first’. The National Library of Scotland also holds a copy of Blanqui’s version of Garnier’s French edition of Wealth of Nations from which Bibikov produced this translation.
The acquisition of this particular translation is an outstanding addition to the Library’s already extensive collection of foreign-language translations of the works of Scottish Enlightenment authors. The Library has a long-standing interest in acquiring early printed books written by Scots for a European readership, such as texts in neo-Latin, translations of Scottish works of all dates and into all languages, and other works showing Scottish involvement in European printed culture. The translation is now available for consultation in our Special Collections Reading Room.
