Map Caucasus (3 results)

Good. Foxing along fold lines and in margins. Size 13.25 x 16 Inches. Here is a nicely engraved map of the Caucasus region drawn by Augustus Petermann and published by Justus Perthes in 1874. It highlights mineral deposits in a period when mining, railways, and the oil industry were rapidly developing and drastically changing the region. A Closer Look This map depicts the wider Caucasus region, including the lands between the Black and Caspian Seas (Georgia, Dagestan, Armenia, Azerbaijan) and surrounding portions of the Russian, Ottoman, and Persian Empires, all of which had been hotly contested between the Russians and Ottomans in the preceding decades. Elevation is measured in Parisian feet while scales are given in German miles and Russian verstes. Longitude is given at the top and bottom margins using Paris, Greenwich, Pulkovo (St. Petersburg), and the Ferro Meridian as Prime Meridians. The two legends explain symbols and abbreviations for a range of administrative, geographic, and economic information, though it appears that the original coloring scheme to distinguish administrative borders has been sacrificed in order to highlight mineral deposits, the main focus of the map. Shading and symbols indicate areas of petroleum (naphtha) deposits and petroleum wells, iron, copper, lead, salt, coal, shale, and cobalt. Inset maps are provided at bottom-left of Tbilisi and Ararat with their environs. One notable feature is the notation of ethno-linguistic groups, such as German speakers, Jews, and Greeks in the Donbas and the Yekaterinoslav Governorate. The Russian Empire was keen to exploit the natural resources of its vast territory in the 19th century, and the most convenient places to do so were what is now Poland, Ukraine, and the Caucasus region. Areas illustrated here were among the world's most productive for coal, petroleum, and other natural resources. Imperial bureaucrats facilitated the exploitation of these resources by ensuring the construction of roads, railways, telegraphs, and pipelines, including the Transcaucasus Railway, depicted here as connecting Poti on the Black Sea with Tbilisi and being planned for completion to Baku, a feat accomplished nine years later. Publication History and Census This map was made by Augustus Petermann and engraved by Alt and Stichart (given names and biographical information unknown) of the publisher Justus Perthes in Gotha. It was published in 1874 as Plate 1 of Vier Vortra?ge u?ber den Kaukasus. von G. Radde , Supplement (Ergänzungsheft) No. 36 to the periodical Petermann's Geographische Mitteilungen . The full distribution of the map is difficult to determine due to inconsistent cataloging but is known to be held by the British Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, and is scarce to the market. The plate for this map had been in use by Petermann and Perthes since at least 1867, for Stieler's Hand-Atlas , and continued to be used in subsequent editions of that atlas into the 1920s. References: OCLC 556850385, 163821215.

Very good. Chromolithograph. Attached to original binder. Size 17.25 x 24.25 Inches. This is a beautiful c. 1930 Intourist U.S.S.R. Travel Company pictorial map of the Caucasus. The map is most intriguing as while clearly a tourist-focused piece, the English-speaking audiences for whom it was intended are mysteriously absent. The English only established normalized relation with the USSR a year before, and the Americans had not. Moreover, this map appeared at the height of the Great Depression, when global travel dropped to a trickle. A Closer Look Printed in English, the map depicts the region from the Sea of Azov to the Caspian Sea and from Stalingrad (which had only recently been christened with that name) to Turkey and Persia. Cities, towns, and villages, including Astrakhan, Rostov-on-Don, Tiflis (the pre-1936 name for Tbilisi), Sochi, and Baku, are identified. The region's stunning mountains and beaches are illustrated, along with the railroad connecting Tbilisi and Baku with the rest of the Soviet Union. Ships ply the waters of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and an airplane flies from beyond the horizon to Baku and Tbilisi. A previous owner's name is written in pencil on the verso and appears to be Beatrice Manley. We have been unable to trace this any further. Some Historical Context The fact that this map is printed in English is intriguing, since Britain only established normal relations with the Soviet Union in 1928 - 1929, and the United States would not do so until 1933 - 1934. This is also the period of Stalin's first five-year plan, which was implemented in 1928. Stalin's reforms focused on rapid industrialization and the collectivization of agriculture. The glaring question concerning this map, and to which there is no clear answer, is who was the target audience for this piece, given that the Great Depression and the first five-year plan were ravaging the global and Soviet economies. That reality, coupled with the fact that the Caucasus were, and still are, a relatively remote part of the world, makes one wonder 'who were the tourists flying on that plane from beyond the Soviet horizon to Baku and Tiflis?' Chromolithography Chromolithography is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Frequently, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired effect. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it emerged as the dominant method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery. Publication History and Census This map was created and published by Intourist c. 1930 and printed in the Soviet Union. This map is not cataloged in OCLC, and we are aware of only one other example in private hands.

Very good. Light wear along original fold lines. Light damp staining in left margin. Size 30.5 x 29.25 Inches. This is an 1854 map of the Caucasus, published during the Caucasian War (1817 - 1864) and the Crimean War (1853 - 1856) by Heinrich Kiepert, the most accomplished 19th-century cartographer working in the Caucasus and Trans-Caucasus. For 50 years, this served as a definitive map used for treaty negotiation, military activity, and administration. A Closer Look The map highlights territory claimed by the Turkish (pink), Persian (yellow), and Russian (green) Empires. Other highlighted entities include Kurdish and Lurian principalities dependent upon Ottoman and Persian protection and other independent Caucasian mountain peoples. The Circassians, Kabardians, and Suanen are marked by blue, Abkhazia and Chechnya by red, and Lesgier and Ossen by yellow. Historical Context This map appeared during a rare time of relative peace in Caucasia. The Russians repeatedly invaded the Caucasus from about 1817, a series of invasions collectively known as the Caucasian War. There was a brief respite between 1825 and 1833 when the Russian Empire was distracted by wars with Turkey (1828-1829) and Persia (1826-1828), but fighting resumed in earnest in 1833. The mid to late 1830s were witness to the most horrific events - the Caucasian Genocide, which took a heavy toll on the Circassian nation and largely drove its people into exile in Turkey and Persia. The outbreak of the Crimean War (1853-1856) led to a temporary ceasefire in the Caucasus, as Russians pulled back their forces to defend Tsardom's primary warm water port - Sebastopol. It is not surprising that Kiepert's map appeared in 1854. The end of hostilities can only have fostered optimism in the Caucasian nations. Additionally, the involvement of Western European powers in the Crimean War raised some hope that the interests of the Caucasian peoples might also be equally supported. The peace did not last. The Crimean War ended in 1856, and fighting immediately resumed in the Caucasus. The Caucasian War gradually wound down as Russian numbers overwhelmed the hearty mountain people, either forcing them into subjugation, slaughtering them, or simply driving them from their ancestral lands. By 1864, the fighting ended, and the Russian Empire took suzerainty over the greater part of the Caucasia. Significance This map is significant and, for 50 years, was the definitive map of the region, used for treaty negotiation, military activity, and administration. Kiepert traveled the region many times (constantly sketching maps) and produced several major maps of the Ottoman world, including this one. His own observations were supplemented by his diligent scholarship, resulting in a profound understanding of the history of explorers in the same area. Throughout this map, the tracks of earlier travelers are noted and dated. The result is the finest map of the region available for most of the second half of the 19th century. The densely hachured topography on the map testifies to the monumental difficulty of surveying in the region and the greatness of Kiepert's achievement. This map was so authoritative that it became the standard for any serious effort to understand the region. Not only was it relied upon by travelers, archaeologists, and administrators, but it was also consulted to establish new imperial borders following the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War. Publication History and Census This map was created by Heinrich Kiepert and published by Dietrich Reimer in 1854. An example is part of the collection at Harvard University. References: Harvard University, G7120 1854 .K5.