The papers are almost entirely concerned with Macartney's embassy to Russia in 1764-1767, and include notes, memoranda, drafts of the trade treaty he negotiated, and a final copy; accounts of travel in Russia and general descriptions of the country, including a treatise on the natural history of Siberia and fossils found there; descriptions of principal figures of the Russian Court and of court protocol; and copies of correspondence and The collection also contains a printed copy of a 1762 decree by Catherine II concerning Alexis Bestoucheff-Rumin; and a dispatch sent by Russia to China in 1792 during Macartney's mission in Peking. Accompanied by a microfilm of the Macartney Papers in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
Description:
George Macartney was born in Ireland and educated at Trinity College. In 1764, Lord Holland proposed him as envoy extraordinary to Saint Petersburg for the negotiation of a trade treaty. Knighted before departing England, Macartney returned in 1767 after concluding the treaty and receiving the Polish Order of the White Eagle. He spent much of the remainder of his career in colonial governorships, including that of Madras, and took his seat in the Irish Parliament in 1788. In 1792 he was sent as plenipotentiary on a mission to Peking, and upon his return from China undertook negotiations with the exiled Louis XVIII in Verona. Macartney thereafter retired from public life due to ill health. and In French and English.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain., Great Britain, Russia., Russia, and Siberia (Russia)
Subject (Name):
Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796. and Macartney, George Macartney, Earl, 1737-1806.
Subject (Topic):
Diplomatic and consular service, British, Diplomatic and consular service, Russian, Diplomats, Commerce, Foreign relations, Politics and government, Court and courtiers, and Description and travel