Limited selection in English: Note, the selection of Western books in St. Petersburg is still rather limited, especially with respect to travel guides. For a list of maps on St. Petersburg available in major bookstores, look under MAPS AND MAP SHOPS.
Series of books and even individual books are often purchased in advance "by subscription".

History: The first book store in St. Petersburg was open in 1714 not far from Troitskaya Ploshchad. There you could buy printed decrees, alphabets, preachings, historical works, posters and engravings with images of Peter the Great and his loyal supporters. This book store was the only one in St. Petersburg for almost half of the century, but toward the end of 18c, the number of book stores increased to 8 and by 1900, there were almost 300.