Lot 26: MAP OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE -- WITSEN, Nicolaas (1641-1717). Nieuwe Lantkaarte van het Noorder

MAP OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE -- WITSEN, Nicolaas (1641-1717). Nieuwe Lantkaarte van het Noorder en Ooster deel van Asia en Europa strekkende van Nova Zembla tot China. [New Map of the Northern and Eastern parts of Asia and Europe, from Nova Zembla to China]. Amsterdam, c.1687.

Large engraved wall map of the Eastern territories of the Russian Empire, 6 sheets joined together, (overall c.1150 x 1250mm). (Traces of old folds, some creasing, light browning along three of the folds, small hole, a few small repairs, folds strengthened on verso.)

RARE. ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE MAPS OF ITS TIME, AND A LANDMARK OF CARTOGRAPHY. Witsen's map, dedicated to Tsar Peter the Great, was one of the great compilation surveys of the Eastern Russian Empire, opening up the area to its development in the 18 t h century. Peter the Great had earlier maintained an intensive corrspondence with Witsen, who had advised him on the construction of a fleet. The map threw light on the Russian possessions in Asia, prior to which very little was known in Europe. The names of Siberian peoples and places, and some of those in Central Asia, suggest that Witsen was using mostly Russian sources. Witsen also had at his disposal maps made by Chinese cartographers, and Jesuits in China -- most importantly those by Martini and Couplet. Some of the Chinese names in the Amur regions and in East Siberia testify to their use. VERY RARE: Keuning locates 8 copies altogether of the two variant states of this map; this one the state with the date '1687' placed obliquely to the right of the cartouche. Keuning, 'Nicolaas Witsen as a cartographer', Imago Mundi, 11 (1967), pp.95-110; Bagrow, 'The first Russian maps of Siberia and their influence on the West-European cartography of N.E. Asia', Imago Mundi, 9 (1967), pp.83-93; Bagrow, A history of Russian cartography up to 1800, pp.73-6 and passim; Yefimov (ed.), Atlas of geographical discoveries in Siberia and north-western America XVII-XVIII centuries, 33.

No VAT on hammer price or buyer's premium.