Detailed lithographed wall map of the Minsk Governorate, a large geopolitical division within the Russian Empire.
This map was published in Minsk in 1848 and shows one of the most detailed renditions of the region from the middle of the 19th century. The cartography probably derives in part from the 20-sheet topographic map of the Minsk province compiled at a scale of 1:210,000 from the survey of Major General Andrei Karlovich Fitingof (1782-1853), which was engraved at the Military Topographic Depot in 1846.
The cartouche in the lower left is unusually detailed, giving 27 symbols for different kinds of towns, villages, roads, borders, etc.
The Minsk Governorate was created in 1793 and lasted until 1921 when it was replaced by the Soviet equivalent.