This is the first volume of a book on insects found in Russia by the German entomologist Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim. Born in Saxony, Fischer travelled across Europe where he studied under the famed naturalists Alexander von Humboldt (in Vienna) and Georges Cuvier (in Paris). In 1804, Fischer took up the position of Director of Natural History at Moscow University where he was able to focus on the classification of Russian insects. His Entomographia Imperii Russiei would be published in parts from 1820 to 1851.