Memoirs of Prince Alexy Haimatoff

Published in 1813, this novel takes the form of a memoir by a Russian prince. Alexy recounts an isolated childhood, an education under a high-minded tutor, and a series of journeys and attachments that test his ideas of virtue, passion, and social rank. Episodes move through continental cities and households; women he loves and men who patronise or betray him become case studies in sincerity and performance. The tone mixes sentimental confession with satire of fashionable feeling. The book is a fictional autobiography, not the life of a historical prince, and not a political history of Russia.

Quarter bound in dark green buckram with marbled paper boards. White dust-jacket printed in pink and black.