Vospominaniia o tsarskoi sem'e i ee zhizni do i posle revoliutsii [Reminiscences about the Imperial Family and its life before and after the Revolution] de Mel'nik, Tat'iana Evgen'evna (Botkina, 1899-1986) - 1920

Harbin: self-published, 1920. First Edition. Octavo (22.5 × 15 cm). Original printed wrappers; 98, [1] pp. Very good. First edition of this early memoir of the Tsar and his relatives, by the daughter of their physician, Evgenii Sergeevich Botkin (1865-1918), who was murdered along with the Imperial Family in Ekaterinburg. Mel'nik claims to follow no political aims, but wishes to correct the slanderous accounts of the Imperial Family common among many émigrés. This copy likely from the collection of Petr Sergeevich Botkin (18??-1933), son of the physician of Tsar Alexander II and brother of the physician of Nicholas II, and the author's uncle. Botkin served as secretary of the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC, emissary to Portugal and Marocco. With the handwritten note "P. Botkinu" on the front wrapper, suggesting the book belonged to or was intended for Petr Botkin, perhaps in memory of his brother. A second edition was published in Belgrade in 1921; the first edition is very scarce. Savine 02202.