Tabula Septentrionalis Russiae, Samoithiae, et Tingosiae…

An important and uncommon map of Russia’s northern Siberian coastline.

This copperplate engraving is a significant and highly detailed map of northern and eastern Russia, originally created by the influential Dutch cartographer Hessel Gerritsz in 1613. Gerritsz, who served as the official hydrographer to the Dutch East India Company (VOC), produced this landmark work to illustrate the vast territories stretching from the White Sea and Arkhangelsk eastward across the Ural Mountains into the remote northern regions of Siberia, Samoyedia, and Tingoesia.

The geography depicted focuses heavily on the strategic northern river networks, tracking the courses of the Dvina, Pechora, and Ob rivers, which were vital for the early fur trade and Arctic exploration. The coastline along the Barents and Kara seas is carefully delineated, reflecting contemporary Dutch commercial interests in finding a northeast passage to Asia. Notable inland features include detailed regional names, early settlements, and dense forests, providing a rare contemporary look at Russia’s expanding northern frontier during the early Romanov period.

Gerritsz based this map on a variety of authoritative and highly restricted sources, most notably the manuscript surveys and geographical data collected by Isaac Massa, a Dutch merchant who lived in Moscow during the Time of Troubles. Massa managed to secure copies of official Russian maps and itineraries that were otherwise unavailable to Western Europeans, allowing Gerritsz to present an unprecedented level of internal accuracy for a region previously considered completely inaccessible. His work was so influential that it was copied throughout the 17th century by the likes of Mercator and Hondius, Jan Janssonius and Willem Blaeu.

Source: UC Berkeley Library