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Rare Russian-language chart of Riga, the Gulf of Riga, and the Moon Sound Archipelago (another name for the western Estonia islands in the Baltic).
The map is based on surveys undertaken by the Russian Hydrographic Department of the Maritime Ministry from 1843 to 1859. The chart was originally published in 1862, and this is an early updated version produced in 1869.
The chart includes copious amounts of bathymetric data and a system for understanding the vital lighthouses of this perilous coastline. The map features numerous detailed engravings of local lighthouses.
On the right side of the map is an inset chart of the harbor of what is now Pärnu, Estonia ("Планъ Перновскаго Рейда").
At the time the map was made all of the area shown was part of the Russian Empire.
Rarity
The National Library of Estonia has the 1876 and 1914 editions. We find an example of the 1895 edition with a dealer in Munich. The present example appears to be the earliest to have appeared on the market.
