Giovio's Little Book on the Embassy of Basil of Muscovy
A Roman account of Muscovy and its Tatar neighbours, written in 1525 from a Russian envoy's answers.
Full title Little Book on the Embassy of Basil, Grand Prince of Muscovy, to Pope Clement VII, describing the country, religion and customs
Paolo Giovio of Como
Paolo Giovio of Como wrote this Latin booklet in Rome in 1525 from interviews with Dmitrii Gerasimov, the Muscovite envoy to Pope Clement VII. It describes Muscovy, its religion and customs, the Volga and the northern sea route, and gives the earliest printed Western notice of the Tatars of Kazan. Giovio framed it with classical writers, correcting Strabo and Ptolemy. The atlas does not hold the text: the card lists a 1527 Basel printing as digital images only, and nothing is stored.
- How they knew
- From informants
- Who “Tartar” means here
- The Tatars of Kazan, Crimea and the Nogais, as described to Giovio by a Russian informant.
- Why read it
- A view of Muscovy's Tatar neighbours and of the northern sea route as a Russian envoy explained them to a Roman audience in 1525.
- Watch out
- Gerasimov is the only source, and Giovio's classical framing shapes what he wrote. The atlas quotes nothing from this work.
What it says
No quotes from this one yet. Its text is out of reach for now, or the scan could not be read.
The fine print
How we know
informant testimony Written down from what informants reported.
informant testimony: composed in Rome from interviews with the Muscovite envoy Dmitrii Gerasimov in 1525; includes the earliest printed Western notice of the Tatars of Kazan and of the route across the northern ocean
Research notes
- Wholly informant-based; Gerasimov's account is the only source; Giovio's classical framing (correcting Strabo and Ptolemy) shapes the text.
- 1525 Rome first edition listed by Europeana at Austrian National Library (data.onb.ac.at, not reachable from this environment).
Why it matters
Early sixteenth-century Latin account of Muscovy's Tatar neighbours and of the geography of the Volga and the northern sea route, derived from a Russian informant; frequently printed together with Herberstein (e.g. Basel 1556, MDZ bsb10150105).
Places named
Muscovy; Volga; Kazan; Astrakhan; Perekop; northern ocean (Yugra, Pechora); Caspian
Peoples named
Muscovy (Vasilii III); Tatars (Kazan, Crimea, Nogai); Yugra; Lapps