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Russia and its Empire in Eurasia: Cartographic Resources in the Library of Congress

General Maps and Atlases of Russia

G. Blaeu, after Hessel Gerritsz, approximately 1581-1632. Tabula Russiae ex autographo, quod delineandum curavit Foedor filius Tzaris Boris desumta; et ad fluvias Dwinam, Zuchanam, aliaque Loca, quantum ex tabulis et notitus ad nos delatis fieri poluit, amplificata : ac Magno Domino, Tzari, et Magno Duci Michael. 1614. Original at the National Library of Russia. Digital image available through the Library of Congress website.

The division holds a substantial collection of cataloged general maps of Russia and the former Soviet Union. These materials by and large are of a political nature, and tend to cover the nation in its entirety. Though variously cataloged, all should be listed on the Library of Congress online catalog. Among the search strategies for identifying them could be a Browse Search option by subjects beginning with the term "Russia (Federation) -- Maps"; or by an Advanced Search search option (with limits set by location to "Geography & Map") with generic search terms, such as "Russia Federation maps" or "Russia maps" or "Russia."

There is also a more significant body of general maps of Russia and the former Soviet Union that have not been cataloged. These, too, are inclined to be a political nature and, for the most part, depict the entire nation. These are grouped into the major category of Russia and the former Soviet Union. Similar large bodies of uncataloged maps also fall under the major categories of European Russia, the Baltic States, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Belarus, Ukraine, the Caucasus, Russian Central Asia, Siberia, and the Russian Far East. In all the contents of all categories number well over 1,500 uncataloged general political maps of Russia and the former Soviet Union. These categories are further elaborated on below.

Atlases of Russia, essentially those which focus on Russia overall in their coverage, are considerably fewer in number, but are searchable by way of the Library of Congress online catalog. They consist of atlases compiled and published in Russia and elsewhere, and range from simple school atlases to the Bol'shoi Sovetskii Atlas Mira, 1937-39, one of several great publishing projects in the Soviet Union from the 1930s, and beyond to include atlases on a wide range of subjects and at various levels of detail.

A few of the uncataloged maps, as well as some of the atlases, are described below as examples to illustrate the breadth and variety of the collection.

Single Maps

There are roughly 455 uncataloged general political maps within thirteen drawers of Russia and the former Soviet Union. The materials span the years from approximately 1635 to 1972, and are arranged chronologically. We list below a few examples, including some cataloged maps, representative of the kinds of materials within the collections.

 

Moscouia Sigmunds Freyherms zu Herberstain, Neyperg vnd Guetenhag u. verteutscht : anno 1557. ([Wienn] : Gedruckt zu Wienn in Osterreich durch Michael Zimmerman in S. Annen Hof, [1557]). Engraved and printed map. Not drawn to scale. Filed under LC call number G7000 1557 .H4 Vault

Map from Sigmund Freherr von Herberstein's Moscouia der Hauptstat in Reissen, durch Herrn Sigmunden Freyherrn zu Herberstain, Neyperg vnd Guetenhag zusamen getragen. 1557. Covers the Grand Duchy of Muscovy and adjacent regions. Depicts towns and villages pictorially; place names; rivers; forests and relief pictorially; and includes illustrations of wildlife, ships, transportation facilities, and coats of arms. Herberstein was twice ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Muscovy on behalf of the Holy Roman Empire to negotiate a truce and renew a treaty in 1517 and 1526, respectively, between Muscovy and Lithuania.His Moscouia der Hauptstat in Reissenwas a major source of western European information on Muscovy during the reign of Tsar Vasily III.


La Russia Blanche ou Moscovie Divisee Suivant l'Estendue des Royaumes Duchés Principautés, Provinces et Peuples qui sont Presentement sous la Domination du Czar de la Russie Cognu sous le Nom du Grand Duc du Moscovie. H. Jaillot (Amsterdam: chez Mortier, [1690?]). Engraving. Scale 1:6,000,000. Filed under USSR -- "La Russie Blanche" -- [1690] -- 1:6,000,000 -- H. Jaillot

Finely-drawn French map of Russia depicting the Russian Empire under the rule of Peter the Great in the late seventeenth century. Map published by H. Jaillot and based on a map by N. Sanson. It illustrates towns, villages, and settlements; place names; guberniia boundaries; rivers and lakes; pictorial representation of vegetation, relief, and some towns. Above the neat line is an extensive list of the duchies and provinces of White Russia and the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Includes a decorative scale bar with eight different national scales.


Generalis totius imperii Moscovitici : novissima tabula magnam orbis terrarum partem a Polo Arctico usq[ue] ad mare Iaponicum, et Chinae Septentrionalis confinia exhibens : cum via Czaricae nuper Legationis ex urbe Moscua per universam Tartariam, ad magnu[m?] Chinae imperatorem. Johann Baptist Homann. (Norimbergae : ex conatibus Iohannis Baptistae Homanni, [1704?]). Engraving, hand-colored. Scale [ca. 1:13,750,000]. Filed under LC call number G7000 1704 .H6

Vibrant early eighteenth century map of Russia by the popular Nuremberg map publisher, J. B. Homann, whose products were admired more for their bold colors and lively cartouches than for their accuracy. Map shows settlements, place names, rivers and lakes, and relief pictorially. The cartouche includes a variety of historical figures associated with the rule of Peter the Great, including the emperor himself, the tsaritsa Ekaterina, a Cossack, a military architect, a shipwright, a model of a Russian cathedral, as well as divers allegorical figures.

Map is available as a digital image through the Library website.


Carte de Moscovie. (Paris: G. de L'Isle, [17--]). Engraved map, hand-colored. Scale ca. 1:2,750,000. Filed under USSR -- European USSR -- "Carte de Moscovie . . ." -- [1700] -- ca. 1:2,750,000 -- G. de l'Isle

Expertly drawn and engraved map of European Russia from the early eighteenth century by French Royal Geographer, Guillaume de L'Isle, and dedicated to the Russian ambassador to France, André Artémonidès de Matueof. Map depicts cities and towns; political divisions; monasteries; roads; rivers and lakes; notes; place names; and pictorial representation of vegetation and relief.


Charte des Ganzen Russischen-Reich in Europa und Asien. J.C.M. Reinecke. (Weimar: im Vorlage des Industrie Comptoirs, 1800). Engraving, hand-colored. Scale 1:10,000,000. Filed under USSR -- "Russian Empire" -- 1800 -- 1:10,000,000 -- Reinecke

Good example of early nineteenth century copperplate engraved map of Imperial Russia by German paleontologist and cartographer, J.C.M. Reinecke. Map depicts towns and settlements; place names; administrative subdivisions; hydrography; vegetation pictorially; and relief by landform drawings. Visually compelling hand-coloring.


The European Part of the Russian Empire, from the maps published by the Imperial Academy at St. Petersburg, with the new provinces on the Black Sea. (London: Laurie & Whittle, 1794). Copperplate engraving, hand-colored. From their Imperial Sheet Atlas (1803). Scale 1:8,500,000. Filed under USSR -- 1803 -- 1:8,500,000 -- Laurie & Whittle

Beautifully drawn, engraved, and hand-colored map of Imperial Russia from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century by the prolific London map, chart, and atlas publishing firm of Laurie & Whittle. Map depicts towns and settlements; place names; administrative subdivisions; roads; hydrography; vegetation pictorially; and relief by land form drawings.


L'Empire Russe en Europe et en Asie, avec ses acquisitions graduelles et caractérisées. (Paris: de l'Imprimerie P. J. de Mat, 1827). Colored map, engraving. Scale ca 1:15,000,000. Filed under USSR -- "L'Empire Russe" -- 1827 -- 1:15,000 -- P. J. de Mat

Unusual and informative French map of Russia showing imperial acquisitions from Ivan the Great to the reign of Alexander the First. Includes a large of amount of geographical and historical text on the map itself. In the margins are statistical tables regarding the various Russian provinces, and administrative divisions within the major regions. Also includes extensive text on the geography of the Russian Empire, i.e its inhabitants, mountains, rivers, commerce, communications, etc. Includes an additional marginal column of historical text on the Turks and a list of twenty-four sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Also shows rivers, place names, boundaries, and relief by land form drawings.


Nord-& Mittel-Asien, Übersicht des Russischen Reiches. A. Petermann. (Gotha: Justus Perthes, 1874). Engraving, colored. From Stielers Hand-Atlas, No. 59. Scale 1:20,000,000. Filed under Russia -- 1874 -- 1:20,000,000 -- Petermann, Justus Perthes / Stieler's Hand-Atlas

Finely drawn and engraved map of Imperial Russia by German cartographer, August Petermann, who established the influential "Gotha School" of cartographic draftsmanship. Map produced for Stielers Hand-Atlas in 1874. Map shows cities and towns; place names; railroads; roads; post roads; forts; hydrography; and relief by shading and hachures.


Karta Rossiiskoi Imperii. (St. Petersburg: Kartagraficheskago zabadeniia A. Il'ina, [191-]). Lithograph, colored. Scale 1:8,400,000; 200 versts to an English inch. Filed under USSR -- (191-) -- 1:8,400,000 -- Kartograficheskoi zavedniia A. Il'ina

Finely drawn and lithographed map of Russia in the early twentieth century by the Saint Petersburg cartographic publishing firm of A. Il'in. Depicts cities, towns, and villages; place names; administrative subdivisions; roads; railroads; rivers; and relief by shading.


Sibirien, Turkestan und das jetzige Europäische Russland. (Glogau und Berlin: Carl Flemming, [192-]). Chromolithograph. Scale 1:10,000,000. Filed under USSR -- [192-] -- 1:10,000,000 -- Carl Flemming (Flemmings Generalkarte Nr. 54)

Detailed map of Soviet Russia from the 1920s by the heirs of German bookseller and publisher, Carl Flemming. Map shows cities, towns, and villages; place names; roads; Trans-Siberian railroad; rivers and lakes; and relief by shading and hachures. Includes color references of state boundaries.


The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union). (New York: Soviet Russia Today, [1937]). Photolithograph, colored. Scale 1:5,400,000. Filed under USSR -- [1937] -- 1:5,400,000 -- Soviet Russia Today (publ.)

Map of the Soviet Union published in the United States on the eve of the Second World War for the pictorial monthly Soviet Russia Today by the American-based Friends of Soviet Russia, essentially an organ of the American Communist Party. Soviet territory in bold orange; adjacent territories in green. Shows constituent republics, autonomous republics, and their capitals; a few place names; and international, union republic, and autonomous republic boundaries, as well as boundaries of adjacent countries. Includes an index of boundary lines and an index of republics, and a numbered index of autonomous republics, and a few statistics.


Sobieto renpo no subarashi chizu / Great Map of the Soviet Union. Nichiro Tsushio Sha. ([Tokyo]: s.n., 1937). Map, colored. Scale 1:6,000,000. Filed under USSR -- 1937 -- 1:6,000,000 -- Nichiro Tshushio Sha / text in Japanese

Japanese political map of the Soviet Union published in 1937, a few years before the Soviet-Japanese border conflicts in Mongolia and Manchuria. Shows cities, towns, and settlements; place names and text in Japanese; international boundaries and administrative subdivisions; roads; railroads; rivers; and major sea routes along the Pacific coast. Overlaid with a series of red lines radiating from major cities indicating scheduled and planned airline routes. Red boxes along the coast indicate salmon and trout fishing grounds owned by Japanese corporations, whereas red frame boxes indicate grounds for harvesting crabs.

The division holds approximately 550 uncataloged general political maps in sixteen drawers of European Russia. They range in date from the early seventeenth century to 1964, and are arranged chronologically. A select few, in addition to one item from the division's vault, are elaborated upon below.

 

Novissima Russiae Tabula. Authore Isaaco Massa. (S.l.: Isaac Massa, [1636]). Engraving, black-and-white. Scale 1:9,000,000. Filed under Russia -- European -- "Novissima Russiae Tabula" -- [16--] -- 1:9,000,000 -- Isaac Massa

First state of the seventeenth century map of Russia authored by Dutch merchant, Isaac Massa, who resided in Moscow from 1601 to 1609. Map shows towns and villages; place names; rivers and lakes; and vegetation pictorially. Cartouche depicts five boyars atop a plinth supporting a shield with the emblem of the Romanovs and the crown of the tsar.


Tabvla Russiæ : ex autographo, quod delineandum curavit Foedor filius Tzaris Boris desumta ... amplificata / ac Magno Domino, Tzari et Magno Duci Michaëli Foedrowits ... dedicata ab Hesselo Gerardo M.DC.XIIII ; Amstelodami--excusum apud Guiljelmum Blaeu. (Amsterdam : Johannem G.F. Blaeu, 1647). Engraved map, hand-colored. Scale [ca. 1:9,000,000]. Filed under LC call number G7010 1614 .B5 Vault

Popular map of Russia by Amsterdam publisher, Guillaume Blaeu, from his atlas titled Le theatre du monde ou novvel atlas, Amsterdam, 1647. Based on an earlier map of by Hessel Gerritsz. Map depicts towns and villages; rivers and streams; occasional descriptive text; vegetation and relief pictorially; and place names. Includes an inset of Moscow; a view of the port town of Archangelsk; a vignette consisting of a Russian merchant, a strelets, and a boyar conversing; and an elaborate cartouche featuring a shield with the double-headed Romanov eagle and the coronation crown of Tsar Michael Feoderovich.


General'naiia Karta Chasti Rossii Razdylennaiana na Gubernii i Uyezdy s' Uzobrazhenniem' Pochtovykh' i Dryznykh' Glavnykh' Dorog' Sochnena i Gravirovana v' 1799 gody, pri sovstvennom' Ego Imperatarskogo Velichestva. (S.l.: Depo Kart', 1799). Colored map. Scale 1:2,200,000. Filed under Russia -- European Russia -- 1799 -- 1:2,200,000 -- no author

Late eighteenth century Russian wall map of European Russia showing its provinces and counties. Shows cities, towns, villages; small fortifications; monasteries; postal stations; general post roads and large roads; state and gurbernia boundaries; and place names.


Carte de la Partie Europeen de l'Empire de Russie avec l'indication des chemins de poste, ainsi que des Douanes frontières et de la repartition actueulle en gouvernments et districts redigée, gravée et imprimée au depôt Imperial des Cartes a St. Petersburg l'année 1809. (Saint Petersburg: depôt Imperial des Cartes, 1809). Engraved map, black-and-white. Scale 1:3,000,000. Filed under Russia -- European -- "Carte de la Russie d'Europe" -- 1809 -- 1:3,000,000 -- Russian Imperial "Depot de Cartes" / Langlois Pub., 1812

Early nineteenth century map of the European part of the Russian Empire. Map depicts administrative seats, as well as cities, towns, and villages; customs houses; post stations; large and ordinary postal roads; distances between postal stations in versts; imperial, government, and district boundaries; rivers and lakes; place names; and relief by hachures and shading. Includes legend. Includes a table of over 100 settlements and features with their geographic coordinates.


Karta Evropiiskoi Rossii i Sibiri na 4 listakh' sostavlena po noveishim' statisticheskim' i geograficheskim' svedeniam' A. Shevelevym' Polkovnikom' General'nago Shtaba. (Saint Petersburg: v' Geographicheskom Magaziny Glavnago Shtaba, 1877). Chromolithograph. Scale 1:3,000,000. Filed under USSR -- USSR in Europe -- 1874 -- 1:3,000,000 -- Sheveliem -- Geographical Store of General Staff

Detailed map of European Russia by Colonel A. Shevelevym of the Imperial Army General Staff, but includes a large inset depicting the author's map of Asiatic Russia with the Turkestan General Government. Map shows four levels of administrative centers; cities, towns, and villages; forts; factories and industries; railroads and railroad stations; anchorages; telegraph stations; highways and roads; state, gubernia, and oblast boundaries; rivers and canals; submerged lands; sands; numerous place names; and relief by hachures. Includes legend. Includes statistical table identifying the administrative regions of the Russian Empire, its major areas and population, imperial population totals by ethnicity, and railway lines throughout the empire. Eastern segment of map missing.


Karta Evropeiskoii Rossii Orenburgskago Kraia, Zapadnoi Sibiri, Turkestanskago General' Gubernostva. M. G. Liusilinym' (S.l.: s.n., 1875). Colored map. Scale one English inch to 180 versts. Filed under USSR -- European (and western Siberia) -- 1875 -- 1 inch = 630,000 feet -- M. G. Liusilin

Detailed map of European Russia, Orenburg Krai, western Siberia, and the Turkestan General Government from the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Shows cities, towns, and villages; forts; frontier posts; railroads; railway lines under constructions; post roads; caravan routes; state, okrug, and gubernia boundaries; rivers and lakes; and place names. Includes legend.


V.S.N.Kh. Karta Evropeiskoi Chasti Rossiiskoi S.F.S. Respubliki. (Moscow: sostavlena Kartografichekim Otdelom Vyschevo Geodezicheskogo Upravleniia, 1922). Colored map. Scale 1:4,000,000. Filed under USSR -- European -- 1922 -- 1:4,000,000 -- V.G.U.

Early 1920s map of European Russia with administrative divisions supplied by the NKVD in November 1922. Map shows cities, towns, and villages; place names; railroads in operation and under construction; highways, post roads, and roads; state, autonomous oblast, republic, independent republic, gubernia, and uyezd boundaries; docks; railway stations; factories and plants; radio stations, both receiving-transmitting and receiving only; and hydrography.

All general political maps of Latvia have been cataloged, and may be searched by way of the Library of Congress online catalog. The division holds twenty-eight uncataloged general political maps of Estonia for the period 1770 to 1968, with bulk falling within the period 1907-68. The division also holds forty uncataloged general political maps of Lithuania for the period 1675 to 1968, with the bulk falling within the period 1917-68. All are arranged chronologically. Only a few are described below as examples.

 

Estonia

Eestimaa Kaart. ([Tallinn]: Sõjawä Topograafia Jaoskonna Wäljaanne, 1919). Map, colored. Scale 1:420,000. Filed under Estonia -- 1919 -- 1:420,000 -- Sojawae Topograafia Jaoskonna Waljaanne

Detailed 1919 map of Estonia published shortly after its declaration of independence as a democratic republic. Map shows cities, towns, and villages; place names; railroads; roads and post roads; parish and district borders; the limits of the Estonian language; churches and chapels; inns; large and standard sized farms; rivers and lakes; and swamps and woods. Includes legend. Map has been annotated by hand to show the boundary between Russia and Estonia by way of the Treaty of Dorpat, and the boundary between Latvia and Estonia resulting from a decision of an arbitration tribunal.


Eesti Vabariigi Postiühenduste Kaart. ([Tallinn]: Postipeavalitsuse Valjaanne, 1923). Lithograph, black-and-white. Scale not given. Filed under Estonia -- Postal communications -- 1923 -- Genl. Post Office

Map showing postal communications in the republic of Estonia in 1923. Map depicts postal roads; post-telegraph and telephone offices; post agencies; railroads and railroad stations; waterways; and place names. Map also indicates days of postal traffic, delivery frequencies, seasonal and navigational influences on deliveries, and distances between offices/communities in kilometers.

 

Lithuania

Lieutvos Zemlapis. Taisé M. Salcius. ([Vilnius: s.n., 1917). Photolithograph, colored. Scale 1:835,000. Filed under LIthuania -- 1917 -- 1:835,000 -- T. M. Salcius

Map of Lithuania shortly before the Act of Independence of Lithuania (February 16, 1918) creating the independent state of Lithuania. Shows cities, towns, and villages; place names; railroads; highways and roads; rivers and lakes; national, gubernia, and county borders; and ethnographic boundaries.

The division holds twelve uncataloged political maps of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from the 1850s to 1965, with the bulk from the period 1939-65.

There are sixty-four uncataloged general political maps of the Caucasus for the years 1541 to 1970, with the bulk being in the period 1847-70. The division also holds twenty-eight uncataloged general political maps of Armenia for the years, six of Azerbaijan for the years 1919 to 1968, and sixteen of Georgia for the years 1775 to 1965 (bulk 1900-65).

The division holds thirty uncataloged general political maps of Russian Central Asia for the period ca. 1850 to 1969, as well as thirteen uncataloged general political maps of Kazakhstan for the years 1851 to 1963, one uncataloged map of Uzbekistan from 1957, seven of Turkmenistan for the periods 1852 to 1907 and 1957 to 1958, and five of Tajikistan for the years 1898 to 1966. A few are described below.

 

Karta Turkestankago General' Gubernatorstva. Sostavlena pri Aziatskoi chasti Glabnogo Shtaba, Korpusa Voennykh' Topografov' Shtabs' Kapitanom' Liusilinym', pod rukovodstvom' General'nogo Shtaba Podpolkovnika Narbut' 1869g. (Saint Petersburg: Kartograficheskago Zavednia A. Il'ina, 1869). Map, colored. Scale 1 English inch = 50 versts. Filed under USSR -- Soviet Central Asia -- 1869 -- no scale

Imperial Russian army map of the Turkestan General Governorship compiled by the Asiatic Division of the General Staff in the Military Topographical Corps in 1869. Map depicts towns and villages; forts; place names; Syr-Daria and Semirechye oblasts and their constituent uyezds; roads and trails; rivers, ephemeral streams, and lakes; and relief by hachures and landform drawings. Inset depicts the Ustyurt Plateau

Library also holds an earlier incomplete edition from the 1850s without any compilation or source data filed under USSR -- Soviet Central Asia -- [185-]


Karta Turkestanskago Voennago Okruga. Sostavlena pri Turkestanskom' Voenno-Topograficheskom' Otdel' v 1877 gody po Noveishim' Svedeniiam'. (Saint Petersburg: Kartograficheskom' zavednie Voenno-Topograficheskako Otdela Glavnogo Shtaba, 1877). Chromolithograph. Scale 1:1,680,000 or an English inch = 40 versts. Filed under USSR -- Soviet Central Asia -- 1877 -- 1:1,680,000 -- Turkestan Military Topographic Div.

Imperial Russian Army map of the Turkestan Military District compiled by the Turkestan Military Topographic Department in 1877. Map shows towns and villages; place names; administrative divisions at the state, oblast, okrug, and uyezd levels; telegraph stations; coal mines; roads and trails; post roads; caravan routes; forts; rivers, springs, wells, and lakes; salt pans; dry beds; Kyrgyz cemeteries and burial grounds; and relief by shaded tinting and hachures. Includes legend.


Uchebnaia Karta Srednii Azii. N. L. Korzhenvskogo, N. E. Balasheva, and A. B. Tsvetkov (Tashkent: SUzbeskogo Gosydarstvennogo Izdatel'stva, [192-]). Chromolithograph. Scale 1:2,000,000. Filed under Russia -- Russian Central Asia -- [192-] -- 1:2,000,000 -- A. B. Tsvetkov / Korzhensvskii + Balashev

1920s map depicting administrative and political divisions of the Soviet republics of Central Asia. Maps identifies administrative divisions at the state, republic, oblast, okrug, and vilayet levels; cities, towns, and villages; place names; railroads; postal routes; caravan routes; rivers, dry channels, and lakes; wells; salt pans; deserts; mountains, peaks, and passes; and relief by shading and spot heights. Includes legend. Includes inset of the Mangyshlak Peninsula. Includes an indexed table of republics and their administrative subdivisions.

The division holds one-hundred and ninety-three uncataloged general political maps in seven drawers depicting Siberia.  The materials are arranged chronologically, and range in date from 1541 to 1967.

With many exceptions, uncataloged maps of the Russian Far East by and large cover the region east of Lake Baikal, and within that broad collection there is coverage of Sakhalin Oblast, which comprises the island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The division holds fifteen uncataloged general political maps of the Russian Far East for the years 1772 to 1961. There are also twenty-six uncataloged general political maps of Sakhalin Oblast for the years 1882 to 1964, and sixteen of the Kuril Islands that range from the early eighteenth century to 1952 (bulk 1940-52).

The division holds thirteen uncataloged general political maps of Belarus for the period ca. 1900 to 1967.

The division holds twelve uncataloged maps of Bessarabia/Moldova for the years 1856 to 1956. Two are described below.

 

Karte von Bessarabien under der Moldau. (Berlin: Carl Flemming, 1917). Colored map. Scale 1:600,000. Filed under USSR -- Moldavian SSR -- 1917 [January] -- 1:600,000 -- Flemming

First World War-era map covering the front line in Bessarabia and Moldavia. Map emphasizes German settlements and ethnicity in the region. Map shows cities, towns, and villages; place names; highways; railroads; forts; antiquated defenses (Hadrian's Wall?); ethnic nationalities; rivers; and relief by hachures. Select regional ethnicities, i.e. Austro-Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, and areas of German settlement, denoted by color. Table gives German population figures for both southwest Russia and Romania; while text with population figures stresses the "Germanism in southern Russia." Large red line indicates the frontline of the war in the middle of January 1917.

The Library also holds an edition of this map indicating the frontline of the war at the beginning of February 1917 filed under "USSR -- Moldavian SSR -- 1917 [February] -- 1:600,000 -- Flemming


Moldavskaia SSR. (Moscow: GUGK, 1951). Black and white photostat map. Scale 1:600,000. Filed under USSR -- Moldavian SSR -- 1951 -- 1:600,000 -- GUGK, and under unverified call number G7111 .F7 1951 .R8

Early 1950s photostat map of the Moldavian SSR showing administrative boundaries and political divisions. Map depicts cities, towns, and villages; administrative centers; place names; state, republic, oblast, and raion boundaries; railroads; highways and roads; rivers; submerged lands and steppe; steamship courses; and ports. Map includes an indexed table of sixty raions and raion centers. Includes legend.

The division holds seventy-four uncataloged general political maps of Ukraine. They span the years 1595 to 1993, but are concentrated within the period 1900-68. Two maps, one available online, are described below.

 

Delineatio generalis Camporum Desertorum vulgo Ukraina : cum adjacentibus provinciis. Beauplan, Guillaume Le Vasseur, sieur de. ([Gedanum] : Beauplan, [1648]). Engraving, uncolored. Scale ca. 1:1,750,000. Filed under LC call number G7100 1648 .B4 Vault

Before it became an independent nation in 1992, Ukraine for centuries was considered Russia's southern steppe frontier. Indeed, the name Ukraine means "borderland" in Old Slavic. The map's author, Guillaume Le Vasseur, sieur de Beauplan, was a French military engineer and draughtsman in the Polish army who erected fortifications against Cossack depredations on Poland's southern frontier west of the Dnieper River. This map of Ukraine is one of a pair he published in 1654, which together are considered the first maps of Ukraine per se. It covers territory then in the possession of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1648 at the time of the Khemylnytskyi Uprising, after which Russian influence generally supplanted that of Poland with the Treaty of Pereyaslav of 1654, the year in which the map appeared. It shows settlements, place names, roads and trails, rivers, and relief and vegetation pictorially. Map is oriented with north at bottom. Text is in Latin and French.

Map is available as a digital image through the Library website.


Typus generalis Ukrainæ : sive Palatinatuum Podoliæ, Kioviensis et Braczlaviensis terras nova delineatione exhibens / penes Gerardum Valk et Petrum Schenk. ([Amsterdam]: Venditant apud P. Schenk et G. Valk, [1705?]). Engraved and printed map, hand-colored. Scale [ca. 1:1,800,000]. Filed under LC call number G7100 1705 .V3 Vault

Finely drawn map of Ukraine from the early eighteenth century covering the palatinates of Kiev, Podolia, and Braclavia now part of central and southern Ukraine but then part of the Russian Empire as lands acquired from the Ottoman Empire. Map depicts towns and villages pictorially; Turkish towns and mosques; place names; ruins; sources of water; rivers; imperial and palatine boundaries; and vegetation and relief pictorially. Includes legend, male figures and coat-of-arms in title cartouche, and directory of scale bars in foreign dimensions. Map may be plate removed from Peter Schenk's Atlas contractus, Amsterdam (1705?).

Map is available as a digital image through the Library website.


Karta Ukraini. (Berlin: Freytag & Berndt, 1919). Colored map. Scale 1:2,000,000. Filed under Ukraine -- formerly Ukrainian SSR -- 1919 -- 1:2,000,000 -- Freytag & Berndt

Commercial German map of Ukraine, in Ukrainian, in its second year of independence, 1919, which, nevertheless, was a year of strife and foreign occupation. Map shows new state borders and undefined state borders, as well as krai and raion boundaries; cities, towns, and villages; place names; double and single track railroads; roads and paths; iron ore mines and salt mines; oil wells; locomotive works; bridges; rivers; and relief by shaded tinting, landform drawings, and some spot heights.

Atlases