Russia of Catherine the Great seen by the Portuguese (1779-1781)

Fernando de Sousa (coord.)

At the end of the 18th century, Portugal, answering to the successive appeals from Russia, took the decision to establish political and commercial relations with that Empire. Completely unaware of the reality of that country and practically ignoring the Baltic trade, the Portuguese State decided to give instructions to its ambassador in London so that he could collect all pertinent information in order to pursue such objectives and trust the Alto Douro Company the promotion of trade relations with Russia and the Baltic States. It is in this context that the documents that are now published emerged, the Instructions on Russian trade, an essential source for knowledge of the Russian Empire, and the reports prepared by the Company's staff.

Note: Due to publishing rights, only the first pages of the work are available. The full book is available in CEPESE's Library.