Columbia Library columns (v.7(1957Nov-1958May))

(New York :  Friends of the Columbia Libraries.  )

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  v.7,no.1(1957:Nov): Page 24  




 

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PETER  THE  GRi:A'i-

There are various explanations as to how this energetic Russian Tsar became
interested in the Pacific. According to one, it was due to Guillaume Dc I'lsle,
First Geographer to Louis XV, whom Peter met in Paris in 1717 (?). A contem¬
porary Russian diary of events in Paris records a long conversation between De
I'Isle and Peter, during which they examined maps of rhe Tsar's domain and
discussed its eastern boundaries.

Others who must have contributed to his interest were the French and Dutch
Academies of Sciences, and Leibnitz and Fcodor Saltykov—both of whom
recommended exploration to determine whether Asia and America were joined.
  v.7,no.1(1957:Nov): Page 24