Projet de canal entre le Don et le Volga. Mémoire à l'appui du projet

First edition, illustrated in the text and with 7 plates out of text, including two heliogravure views, one black-and-white map, and 4 folding maps in colour.

Contemporary half green morocco binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fleurons, marbled paper boards ("cat's eye" pattern), marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges. A fine period binding.

A few minor spots, mostly on the endpapers; a handsome copy.

The Don–Volga Canal was a long-standing tsarist development project, but only materialised during the Soviet era. Though planned as early as 1887 based on the present document, the works did not begin until 1938 and were not completed until 1952. Needless to say, many German prisoners of war and Gulag detainees were involved in its construction...

Elegantly named the Lenin Volga–Don Navigation Canal, it links the two rivers at their nearest point. Victor-Edmond-Léon Dru (1837–1904) was an engineer and entrepreneur responsible for many artesian wells in Paris (such as at La Butte-aux-Cailles), as well as in Russia and Algeria. Together with his brother Saint-Just Dru, he founded a company specialising in artesian wells for the Russian market.