First published in 1859, Russia: By a Recent Traveller was originally prompted by the Publication in the English press in December 1857 of the Imperial Proclamaton of the imminent emancipation of the Russian serfs, upon which Perason planned a visit to Russia in the summer of 1858 to gain first-hand impressions of the state of the country and information about the problems connected with the 'Great Reform'. The fruits of his journey were his 'Letters', published in fifteen successive numbers of the weekly Continental Review, between 22 September and 29 December 1858.