Abstract
The article describes the history of mapping of the Smolensk region in eighteenth to early twentieth centuries, based on archival materials as well as published sources on the history of cartography in Russia. The article distinguishes three main periods of mapping and identifies activities that characterize the development of scientific knowledge and the understanding of the surrounding nature. The article makes a note of the role of scientific institutions, government agencies and individual researchers in conducting geographic research on the western border areas of Russia. It presents unique cartographic works (a number of which were previously unknown) of different periods, reflecting the transformation of the territory over the course of its exploration and economic use.
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- 1.
Russian Academy of Sciences Library. Manuscript division, the main collection No 658. General map of the defense line from Smolensk to Chernigov, 1706.
- 2.
Russian State Archives of Ancient Documents. Fund 192, list 1, No 2. Drawing of the Gzhatsk harbour. First half of the eighteenth century.
- 3.
Russian Academy of Sciences Library. Manuscript division, the main collection No 154. The project to connect the rivers Vorya and Gzhat. First half of the eighteenth century.
- 4.
Russian Academy of Sciences Library. Cartography department. The Atlas of the Russian Empire. Collection of maps I.K. Kirilov, 1734.
- 5.
The State Archive of the Smolensk region. Fund 259, list 1, No 58. “Geometric special plan of village Ananyino Duhovschinskogo district of Smolensk province”.
- 6.
Russian State Historical Archives. Fund 380, list 28, No 32. Forest Atlas of the Smolensk province, 1797.
- 7.
Russian State Military Historical Archives. Fund. 848, list 16, No 21460. Semitopographical map of the Smolensk province, 1812.
- 8.
The State Archive of the Smolensk region. Plan of the city of Gzhatsk, 1833. Fund 1, list 1, No 41.
- 9.
Russian State Military Historical Archives. Fund 386, list 1, No 4823. The “Statistical Atlas of the Smolensk province” K.I. Stiernskants, 1850.
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The research presented here is performed under the Basic Research program of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2017.
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Erman, N.M., Nizovtsev, V.A. (2018). The History of Cartography of Western Border Areas of Russia in Eighteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries (Using the Example of the Smolensk Province). In: Altić, M., Demhardt, I., Vervust, S. (eds) Dissemination of Cartographic Knowledge. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61515-8_8
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