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This is a fine example of Vasilii Piadyshev's map of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands District, which apperaed in his Geograficheskii atlas Rossiiskoi imperii, tsarstva Pol'skogo i velikogo kniazhestva Finliandskogo (Geographic Atlas of the Russian Empire, Kingdom of Poland, and the Grand Duchy of Finland).
This map provides detailed representation of the Kamchatka District (Камчатского Округа) and the Kuril Islands (Курильских Островов), dated 1826 and published in St. Petersburg. Titled in both Russian and French, it provides a comprehensive overview of the administrative and geographical features of this remote region of the Russian Empire. The map outlines postal routes, major roads, settlements, and natural landmarks, serving as an administrative and logistical tool for the region.
The principal settlement depicted is Petropavlovsk (Petropavlovskoi Port), marked as the district’s administrative center. As the primary hub for trade and governance, Petropavlovsk played a significant role in the region's development and was a crucial outpost for Russian exploration in the Pacific. Other settlements are marked, including smaller villages (slobody), fortified posts (ostrogs), and monasteries, reflecting the sparse yet strategically important population centers in the area.
The map prominently features the Pacific coastline and the Sea of Okhotsk, illustrating the natural boundaries of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Several rivers are marked, flowing into the surrounding seas, which were vital for local transportation, fishing, and sustenance. The Kuril Islands chain extends southward, marked with significant detail, emphasizing their importance in trade routes and territorial disputes with neighboring Japan.
A bilingual legend explains the map’s symbols, indicating administrative divisions, postal stations, roads, and fortifications. The map also delineates the boundaries of neighboring territories, including the District of Okhotsk and lands influenced by Japan, highlighting the geopolitical significance of Kamchatka during this period.
This map offers a rich historical snapshot of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands, emphasizing their role as a remote but vital part of the Russian Empire.
Rarity
The map is very rare. This is the first time we have offered the map for sale.
Piadyshev was the cartographer at the Military-Topographical Depot of His Imperial Majesty's General Staff, during the production of the first systematic survey or Russia, with maps published between 1820 and 1827.
Piadyshev's Geograficheskii atlas Rossiiskoi imperii, tsarstva Pol'skogo i velikogo kniazhestva Finliandskogo (Geographical Atlas of the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Poland, and the Grand Duchy of Finland . . . ) was the first atlas of its kind - both comprehensive and accurate - depicting an empire that stretched from the Vistula River to the Pacific Ocean. It is credited to Col. Vasilii Petrovich Piadyshev (1768-1835), who served with distinction in the Military-Topographical Depot of His Majesty's General Staff. The sheets were published between 1820 and 1827; the work underwent revision in 1828-1829 and was reprinted in 1834. The atlas is composed of 60 maps, including a general map of the empire.
Curiously, the atlas is not constructed on a consistent scale and does not use the same projection on all maps. Each sheet describes administrative boundaries, rivers, roads, urban and rural settlements, and a variety of other details. Distances are in versts (1 verst = 1.07 kilometer). On each sheet, placenames are rendered in Russian and in French transliteration.
The atlas reflects the detailed mapping carried out by Russian military cartographers in the first quarter of the 19th century. The map shows population centers (five gradations by size), fortresses, redoubts, roads (four types), provincial and district borders, plants, and factories. Distances are shown in versts, a Russian measure, now no longer used, equal to 1.07 kilometers. Legends and place-names are in Russian and French.
The atlas underwent revision in 1828-1829, and was reprinted in 1834.
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