Certainly one of the most outlandish of the Victorian travelogues, this classic chronicles Marsden's 3,000-mile journey from St. Petersburg to the Viluisk leper colony in Siberia. Marsden, who had nursed Russian soldiers in Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish war, seems to have been fired by missionary zeal, dispensing religion, tea and bandages as though they were all three medical supplies. Her book is a lively tale of adventure and a fascinating report on Siberia (not to mention 19-century attitudes toward leprosy). First published in 1893.  (RUS138, $16.95)