A BRIEF HISTORIOGRAPHICAL NOTE RELATED TO NORTH ASIA: NICOLAE MILESCU (1636–1708) & JOHN FREDERICK BADDELEY (1854–1939)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbto.2023.1.06Keywords:
Northern Asia, geography, explorations, Russians in the Far East, historiographyAbstract
Russian exploration in the 17th century attracted the attention of twentieth-century geographers, a fact that also resulted in a series of translations of texts produced by Russian embassies in the Far East, especially those beginning to deal with the Qing dynasty. The British geographer John F. Baddeley was one of these geographers, as he was also a member of the Royal Geographical Society. He not only translated texts, but also explored the Russian territories under discussion using the corpus of manuscripts compiled by the Russian ambassador to the Qing, Nicolae Milescu. The reception of his translations and his venture into North Asia by historians of science and geographers is remarkable, and it is equally a nuance where the history of the 17th century seems to ‘encounter’ Baddeley’s time of exploration in the 20th century.
References
Primary Sources
Yü. V. Arsenev (edited by), Putevoi dnevnik ot Nerchinskogo ostroga do Pekina russkogo poslannika v Kitae Nikolaia Gavrilovicha Spafariia 1676 [“Il Diario di viaggio di N. G. Spafarii, l’inviato in Cina dal porto di Nerčinsk a Pechino durante il 1676”], Известия Императорского русского географического общества, Orenburg, 1896 (71 p.), Izvestiia Imperatorskogo russkogo geografičeskogo obšestva (Orenburg), 9 (1896), p. 1-71.
_________, “Путешествие через Сибирь от Тобольска до Нерчинска и границ Китая русского посланника Николая Слафария в 1675 г.”, Записки Императорского русского географического общества по отделению этнографии, Спб. 1882. Putešestvie čerez Sibir’ ot Tobol’ska do Nerčinska i granits Kitaja russkogo poslannika Nikolaja Spafarija v 1675 godu. Dorožnyj dnevnik Spafarija s vvdeniem i primečanijami Yu. V. Arsen’eva”, [“The travel of the Russian envoy Nikolai Spafarij, from Tobolsk to Nerčinsk and to the China’s border with Siberia, in 1675”], Zapiski Imperatorskogo russkogo geografičeskogo obšestva po otdeleniju etnografij 10 (1882), pp. 1-224. [abrev. PSTNK]
_________, Статейный список Николая Спафария в Китай (1675-1678 гг.), Bестник археологии и истории. Вып. 17. Oтд. 2. Cпб., 1906/transl. Statejnyj spisok posol’stva Nikolaij Spafarija v Kitae, 1675-1678 vv. [“The official rapport outcome from the N. Spafarii’s mission to China, 1675-1678”], Sankt Petersburg, 1906, p. 6-178. [abrv. SSPNSK]
H. Cпафарий, Описание первыя части вселенныя, именуемой Aсии, в ней же состоит Kитайское государство с прочими его городы и провинции, Kазань, 1910. [translit. Opisanija pervyia častija vselennyia imenuemoj Azii v nej že sostoit Kitajskoe gosudarstvo s pročimi ego gorody i provincii, N. G. Spafarii,/“Description of the first part of the world, named Asia, where it is to be found the reign of China, its towns and its regions”]; text edited by F. Vasiliev, A. Alexandrov, N. O. Katanov, Kazan, 1910. This volume encloses Nicolae [Spafarij] Milescu’s remarks on the great river Amur: “Сказзние о великой реке Амуре”/transl. Scazenie o velikoi reke Amure, first edited in “Известия Императорского русского географического общества”/transl. Izvestiia Imperatorskogo russkogo geografičeskogo obšestva 4 (1882).
J. F. Baddeley (a cura di), Russia, Mongolia, China. Being some Record of the Relations between them from the beginning of the XVIIth Century to the Death of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich A.D. 1602-1676. Rendered mainly in the form of Narratives dictated or written by the Envoys sent by the Russian Tsars, or their Voevodas in Siberia to the Kalmuk and Mongol Khans & Princes; and to the Emperors of China. With Introductions, Historical and Geographical also a Series of Maps showing the progress of Geographical Knowledge in regard to Northern Asia, during the XVIth, XVIIth, & early XVIIIth Centuries. The Texts taken more especially from Manuscripts in the Moscow Foreign Office Archive. The Whole by John F. Baddeley, Author of The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus, Macmillan and Company, London 1919, Vol. I-II, pp. 15-ccclxv + 1 f. er. + tab. geneal. A-I, mappe, etc., xii-466, New York 19632; Mansfield Center CT, Martino 20073. [trad. inglese di massicci brani del PSTNK e del SSPNSK, con documenti aggiuntivi, note, bibliografia, indici, annesse, etc.].
_________, Russia in the «Eighties». Sport and Politics, Longmans, Green and Co. 39 Paternoster & 30 th Street, New York, Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras, 1921.
Johan G. Sparwenfeld, Diary of a Journey to Russia 1684-87. [translated and edited by Ulla Birgegård 2002].
Boris P. Polevoy, “Geograficheskie chertyozhi posolstva N. G. Spafariya” [“Geographical sketches from the Ambassade of N. G. Spafary”], Izvestiya Akademii nauk SSSR: seria geograficheskaya 1 (1969), p. 115-122.
Semyon Remezov, Certioznaia kniga Sibiri, sostavlennaia tobolskim synom boyarskim Semyonom Remezovim v 1701 godu/ “Atlas of Siberia, compiled by the Tobolsk Boyar’s Son Semyonov Remezov in 1701”, Skt. Petersburg 1882.
Martino Martini, Novus Atlas Sinensis [Atlas Sinicus, Sive Magni Sinarum Imperii Geographica descriptio o Atlas Extremæ Asiæ sive Sinarvm Imperii Geographica Descriptio], J. Blaeu editore, Amsterdam 1655. [Martino Martini, Opera Omnia (vol. I: Lettere e documenti, vol. II: Opere minori, vol. III, 1-2: Novus Atlas Sinensis), eds. by Giuliano Bertuccioli, Franco Demarchi, University of Trento, Trento, 1998-2002. [vol. IV: Sinicae Historiae decas Prima; vol. V: De Bello Tartarico Historia, Documentazioni aggiuntive]; idem, Novus Atlas Sinensis: tavole/Martino Martini s.j., (eds. by Riccardo Scartezzini, Giuliano Bertuccioli, Federico Masini), (17c. illustrations, 5 fasc.), Trento, University of Trento, 2003.
Secondary literature:
E. Alexandre, “Note sur Nicolas Spathar, grec de Moldavie, ambassadeur russe auprès de K’ang-Hsi en 1676”, Actes du IVe Colloque international de Sinologie, Chantilly, 1983, 1-11.
Leo Bagrow, A History of Russian Cartography up to 1800, (eds. by) Henry W. CASTNER, Wolfe Island, The Walker Press, Ontario, 1975.
Constantin Bărbulescu (ed.), Jurnal de călătorie în China (N. Milescu Spătarul), Bucureşti 19582.
Eugen Ciurtin, “L’ethnographie sibérienne dans l’œuvre du Roumain Nicolas ‘Milescu’ le Spathaire (1675-1678)”, Archævs, vol. 4, nr. 1-2, 2000, 413-437.
_________, “L’Asie dans l’œuvre du Roumain Nicolas ‘Milescu’ le Spathaire (1636-1708) et son contexte européen (IIe partie)”, Stvdia Asiatica, vol. 1, nr. 1-2, 2000, 177-208.
Daniela Dumbravă, book review to Noël Golvers, Efthymios Nicolaidis (eds.), Ferdinand Verbiest and Jesuit Science in 17th century China. An annotated edition and translation of the Constantinople manuscript (1676), National Hellenic Research Foundation vol. 108, Athens-Leuven 2009, 382 p., Stvdia Asiatica 11 (2010), 344-352.
_________, “John G. Sparwenfeld e Nicolae Milescu (Mosca, 1684). Rapporti diplomatici, scambi d’informazione e convergenza delle fonti”, Stvdia Asiatica. International Journal for Asian Studies, Bucharest, X (2009), 297- 307.
_________, La missione di Nicolae Milescu in Asia Settentrionale, 1675-1676, doctoral dissertation in Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze, 2007, 430.
_________, “Nicolae Milescu in Asia Settentrionale (1675). Preliminari alla sua missione diplomatica presso la corte imperiale dei Qing”, Stvdia Asiatica. International Journal for Asian Studies, Bucharest, X (2009), 167-232.
_________, “Il Novus Atlas Sinensis di Martino Martini vs Opisanie Kitay di Nicolae Milescu?” in La storia della cartografia e Martino Martini, ed. by Elena Dai Prà, Scienze Geografiche Franco Angeli, Milano, 2015, 162-177.
_________, “The first political borders of the Eurasian continent at the northern «entrance» to the Son of Heaven? Tow European chronicles on the Manchu-Russian negotiations in the 17th century: Seicento Statejnyj spisok & Relaçao diaria da viagem”, in Proceedings of the International Symposium (ed. Luis Filipe Barreto) “Tomás Pereira S.J. (1645-1708). Life, Work and Time”, Ed. Centro Cientifico e Cultural de Macau, I. P., Lisbon, 2010, 317-352.
_________, “Nicolae Milescu nu a plagiat”, see online: http://www.romlit.ro/index.pl/nicolae_milescu_nu_a_plagiat, România literară 41, 2007.
_________, “Ripensando Nicolae ‘Milescu’ Spathar (1636-1708) – Breve saggio storiografico”, Archaevs vol. 8, nr. 1-4, 2004, 193-234.
Rudolf Loewenthal, “Nikolai Gavrilovich Spafarii-Milesku (1636-1708). A Biobibliography”, Monumenta Serica 37 (1986-87), 95-111.
Edward Heawood, “The Historical Geography of Northern Eurasia”, The Geographical Journal 56 (1920), no. 6, 491-496.
_________, “Obituary: John F. Baddeley”, The Geographical Journal, 95 (1940), 407-408.
Mark Mancall, Russia and China. Their Diplomatic Relations to 1728, Harvard U.P. [Harvard East Asian Series 61], Cambridge Massachusetts, 1971.
Petre P. Panaitescu, “Nicolas Spathar Milescu (1636-1708)”, Mélanges de l’École Roumaine en France vol. 1, nr. 1925.
Beate Hill-Paulus, Nikolaj Gavrilovič Spatharij (1636-1708) und seine Gesandtschaft nach China, Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens Mitteilungen LXXI, Hamburg, 1978.
Émile Picot, “Notice biographique et bibliographique sur Nicolas Spatar Milescu, Ambassadeur du tsar Alexis Mihajlovič en Chine”, [Sixième Congrès International des Orientalistes] Mélanges Orientaux 1 (1883), 433-492.
Alexei V. Postnikov, “Outline of History of Russian Cartography”, in K. Matsuzato, Regions: A Prism to view the Slavic Eurasian Word. Proceedings of the July 1988 International Symposium of the Slavic Research Center, Sapporo, 2000, 1-49.
George Sarton, “Russia, Mongolia, China”, book review, Isis 4 (1921), no. 1, 85-88.
Denis Signor, “Western Information on the Kitans and Some Related Questions”, Journal of the American Oriental Society 115 (1995), no. 2, 262-269.
Joseph Sebes, The Jesuits and The Sino-Russian Treaty of Nertcinsk. The Diary of Thomas Pereira S.J., Istitutum Historicum S.I. volumen XVIII, Rome, 1961.
M. Tolmachëva, “The Early Russian Exploration and Mapping of The Chinese Frontiere”, Cahier du Monde Russe, Paris 41 (2000), no. 1, 41-56, etc.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Theologia Orthodoxa
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
ISSN (print): 1224-0869, ISSN (online): 2065-9474, ISSN-L: 2065-9474