Amplissima Ucraniae Regio Palatinatus Kioviensem et Braclaviensem…[Ukraine]

The breadbasket of Europe in the mid-18th century.

This historic hand-colored map covering much of the area of modern-day Ukraine was published in Augsburg around 1757 by Tobias Conrad Lotter. It is a later issue of the plate originally engraved by Matthaus Seutter, Lotter’s father-in-law. A crisp image presents a fascinating variety of settlements, geographic features, religious institutions, and historic sites.

Pictorial elements like mountains, forests, and marshlands offer a tangible perspective on the physical landscape. An elaborate decorative cartouche in the upper left, featuring the goddess Demeter and symbols of agricultural bounty, reflects the region’s status as the breadbasket of Europe. The political content is well-described by the Royal Library of Belgium;

“Ukraine is the region that encompasses the voivodeships of Kyiv and Bratslav. A voivodeship is an administrative division typical of Poland, which was originally governed by a voivode or army commander. One can compare it to what we call a duchy. On this map the term is translated into Latin as Palatinatus. Both voivodeships belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 (the Union of Lublin) to 1793 – although in 1668 when Kyiv and Left-bank Ukraine (the part of Ukraine on the east bank of the Dnieper River) were handed over to Russia under the Treaty of Andrusovo (1667). Prior to that they were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.Together with the voivodeship of Podole, the voivodeship of Bratslav which is also called the Ukrainian Podolia, formed the historic province of Podolia. At the end of the 18th century, with the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, both would be incorporated into the Russian Empire.”

Source: Royal Library of Belgium;