This website is part of The New York Public Library's Online Exhibition Archive. For current classes, programs, and exhibitions, please visit nypl.org.
Russia Engages the World, 1453-1825
1453 Through the Reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584) The Time of Troubles to the First Romanovs (1598-1682) Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682-1762) The Age of Catherine the Great (1762-1801) The Reign of Emperor Alexander I (1801-1825)

                                     

Explore this Section:

Engagement Symbol Catherine the Great's Empire
Engagement Symbol
The Vast Expanse of Empire


Russia's Globalization:
A Key

Events marked Russia Symbol are specific to Muscovy/Russia's internal development.
Those marked World Symbol are important world historical or cultural events.
Engagement Symbol indicates specific points of sociocultural or military engagement between Muscovy/Russia and foreign powers or individuals.




















 

 

   
  

 Photographic Services & Permissions

Aleksandr Mikhailovich Wildbrecht (d. ca. 1820)
Rossiskoi atlas [A Russian Atlas]
St. Petersburg: Gornoe uchilishche, 1792
NYPL, Map Division

This map, from an atlas consisting of forty-six maps of the provinces of Russia as they were delineated by Catherine’s local government reform of 1775 shows the western part of the Siberian province of Irkutsk. Prepared in the Cartography Department of the Academy of Sciences, it includes topographical features, towns, and churches. Each map in the atlas contained a cartouche illustrating a scene emblematic of the region. Here, a fur merchant deals with two Chinese men who have brought chests of valuables to exchange for the pelts at his side. The maps were engraved after the designs of Aleksandr Wildbrecht.