L'Isle, Jacques Nicolas de (1688-1768). Atlas Russicus-- Sheet 13L Omsk, Siberia. [Russia]. 1745.

Jacques Nicolas de L’Isle (1688–1768)
Ufimskaia provintsiia s okruzhaiushchimi mestami / (Ufa Province with surrounding areas)
Russia, 1745
Engraved map with original outline color
Sheet size: 28 1/16 x 21 inches

This rare and expansive Russian-language map of the Ufa Province and surrounding regions in western Siberia was produced under the direction of Jacques Nicolas de L’Isle, a French cartographer who was invited to the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great’s successors. De L’Isle played a critical role in advancing Russian cartographic science in the 18th century and helped create some of the earliest modern maps of Siberia.

Published in 1745, this map reflects Russia’s growing imperial ambition to explore, document, and govern its vast eastern territories. It charts the complex river systems, mountain ranges, and settlements of the southern Urals and upper Volga region—critical terrain in the Russian expansion eastward across Asia. The area depicted lies at the crossroads of European Russia and the nomadic and Turkic lands of the steppe, a region that was both strategically vital and culturally diverse.

The cartouche in the lower left corner features classically inspired figures, a visual nod to Enlightenment ideals and to the scientific authority the Russian Empire sought to project. This engraving is part of the Atlas Russicus, a monumental project initiated by the Academy to modernize geographic knowledge and promote administrative control over Russia’s interior.

With meticulous detail and restrained artistry, this map offers not only a geographic view of Siberian Russia, but also a window into the imperial and intellectual currents shaping 18th-century Eurasia.