This book, published in Saint Petersburg in 1780 by the Russian Imperial Academy of Science, is about the history of and conditions in the eastern Belarusian lands visited by the Empress Catherine (the Great) in May of that year. The work includes detailed information about localities in the Polotsk and Mogil'ov territory (namestnichestva), including the population and descriptions of castles, palaces, churches, and monasteries. Descriptions of places in Belarus start on page 38. The book also contains information about places along the route from Saint Petersburg to Belarus, such as Krasnoye Selo, Yamburg, Narva, and Pskov. Russia gained control of the Belarusian lands east of the Dvina and Dnieper Rivers after the first Partition of Poland. A diplomatic agreement was concluded by Russia, Austria, and Prussia in February 1772 and it transferred parts of present-day eastern Belarus from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to Russia. The purpose of Catherine’s journey in 1780 was both to survey her new domains and to meet Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II in Mogil'ov.