Diary of the Circumnavigation by F. P. Litke on the Ship Kamchatka in 1817-1819

The diary of the circumnavigation of the ship «Kamchatka» in 1817–1819 under the command of Captain 2nd rank V. M. Golovnin belongs to the midshipman of the Russian Imperial Navy F. P. Litke, who later became a well-known navigator, admiral, one of the initiators of the establishment of the Russian Geographical Society, and president of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

The diary is written in a vivid, figurative language and contains interesting details about the course of the voyage, descriptions of distant lands and territories from Russia, poorly studied islands lost in the World Ocean, and the life and customs of their inhabitants.

Familiarity with this publication will expand knowledge in the fields of history, ethnography, geography, and provide a more accurate assessment of the contribution made by Russian sailors to the study of the World Ocean.

As appendices aimed at making the source more accessible to the modern reader, the editors equipped it with extensive scientific and reference apparatus, including: historical and archeographic prefaces, scientific comments, name, geographical, and ship indices, a terminology dictionary, and a table of headings.

The publication may be recommended to specialists engaged in the history of the navy and circumnavigation, as well as to a wide range of readers.

The release of the book is dedicated to the 180th anniversary of the Russian Geographical Society.