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Description

Fine late 18th Century map of Russia, published in Venice by Francois Santini and engraved by Remondini.

The map is based upon the work of Johann Treskot and Johann Schmidt, whose 23 sheet survey of Russia, completed in 1776 for the Imperial Academy of Sciences, represented an important leap forward in the modern scientific mapping of Russia.

From Lithuania and Poland in the west to the Pacific Ocean and the Aleutian Islands in the east, the Russian Empire sprawls across this map with great detail and refinement.

Treskot & Schmidt's survey of Russia was the next major survey following the work of Joseph Nicolas De L'Isle. Almost immediately after the publication of De l'Isle's atlas of Russia in 1745, the Geographical Department of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences began planning for a new atlas of Russia. For various reasons, however, an updated work would not appear for several decades. As noted by Leo Bagrow

There are frequent references to atlases of the Russian Empire published during the decades of the 1750's and 1760's…Actually, these atlases were simply loose collections of maps published the years following 1754, primarily during the period of Lomonosov and Rumovskiy…Copies of such atlases were individual collections of maps, sometimes provided with a title page which, it would seem, was usually printed in one copy only.

The most prolific of these mapmakers were Johann Schmidt and Johann Treskot. Bagrow notes that these mapmakers were actively revising De L'Isle's work in the 1750s and 1760s, with Schmidt focused on the Baltic Regions and Treskot on Siberia.

The present map is based upon a 3 sheet map of similar size, engraved in St. Petersburg by K. Frolov, E. Khudiakov, and N. Zubkov in 1776.

Condition Description
Three Sheets - unjoined.
Reference
Bagrow, Russian Cartography to 1800, p.195.
Paolo Santini Biography

Paolo Santini (1729-1793) was an Venetian engraver known especially for his religious prints and fine cartographic engravings. He published in Venice and may have a been a member of the clergy. In his maps, he largely adopted and adapted the work of his French counterparts, especially the brothers de Vaugondy.