La Parte Orientale della Russia Asiatica Delineata Sulle Ultime Osservazioni

Russia’s Far East in the late 18th century.

This charming antique map covers much of the far eastern territories of the Russian Empire. The western border is approximately the Yenisei River and its various tributaries, including the Tunguska and Angara Rivers (the latter of which flows out of Lake Baikal). To the east, America is alluringly close – a few years after publication, the Russian-American Company would be chartered to colonize the coast. The clearly delineated border with the Qing Empire follows the terms of the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk, though a weakened China would cede lands up to the Amur River during the Opium Wars. Pictorial topography emphasizes the rugged Kamchatka Peninsula, Stanovoy Range, Koryak Mountains, and the Verkhoyansk Range, north of Yakutsk. Though its label is the largest, the provincial capital was significantly smaller in size and importance than Irkutsk (just above Baikal). Apart from these two major cities, only a handful of small towns are labeled along the coast and navigable rivers.

The map was created in Rome in 1796 by the celebrated Italian cartographer, globemaker, and engraver Giovanni Maria Cassini (not to be confused with the French mapmaking family of the same name). Originally issued as part of the lavish Nuovo Atlante Geografico Universale. The decorative cartouche, lower right, features a wilderness landscape with several wild animals and a small rural settlement – a reflection on the ‘uncivilized’ Far East and its primary export of furs.