1783 Nicolas Gabriel Clerc Plan of the Kungur Ice Cave, Russia

Earliest printed depiction of the Kungur Ice Cave

This is a fascinating cross-section view of the Kungur Ice Cave, a karst cave in the Ural Mountains, memorialized in Nicolas Gabriel Clerc's 1783 Histoire Physique, Morale, Civile et Politique de la Russie. Le Clerc was tasked by Louis XV to produce a history of Russia; his work included wonders such as this view of these sprawling caves, which to this day have not been fully explored.

A Closer Look

This plate, masterfully engraved by Tardieu, gives a broad overview of the cave system. The walled town of Kungur is shown on the left bank of the Sylva River; on the right bank, the labyrinth of the Ice Cave is laid out dramatically. A legend provides notations keyed to the map, indicating such features as an 'open area that forms a beautiful meadow' and 'an image of St. Nicholas placed by the Russians that cannot be displayed on the map.' While the map is largely figurative, the salient features of the grottoes are accurately described. Thus the map provides an effective description of a natural wonder unlikely ever to be visited in person by Le Clerc's readership in France.

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved by Pierre Tardieu for inclusion in Nicholas Gabriel Clerc's 1783Histoire physique, morale, civile et politique de la Russie. The Histoire is well represented in institutional collections. Six examples of the separate plate are cataloged in OCLC.

Cartographers

Nicolas-Gabriel Clerc (Le Clerc; October 6. 1726 - December 30, 1798) was a French physician, writer, and cartographer. An Enlightenment scholar, he was also a partisan of absolute monarchy: an irony, since the administrative caprice of the French court served him with lifelong torment and neglect. His family were doctors, and consequently his early education and career were in medicine; he was appointed first physician of the King's armies in 1757, an office he exercised by reforming administrative abuses in the army's hospitals. He was sent to Russia at the request of Empress Elizabeth I, where General Kirill Razumovsky chose him to be his personal physician. He attended Razumovsky on a tour throughout Europe's courts. He was offered ownership of the town of Baturin, a dubious reward Le Clerc refused, as it amounted to lifelong exile in Russia. After a short sojourn in France, however, he nonetheless returned to Russia, where he was made First Physician to the Grand Duke. He was sent with another purpose by Louis XV: to research a history of Russia, a subject on which western Europe was deeply ignorant. Le Clerc returned to France in 1777 heavily laden with texts and maps, many produced at his own expense - unfortunately, he found his assignment forgotten, and his hoped-for support not forthcoming. His efforts in hospital reform were briefly remembered, and he was recalled in 1778 to Versailles to continue that work; upon submitting his report on proposed hospital improvements, his work would again be shelved and forgotten. Meanwhile, he continued to labor on his history of Russia, and completed it just in time for the French Revolution (1789 - 1799). His pension disappeared. At his death in 1798, he was an honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of Saint Petersburg; at home, his position as a Knight of the King's Order no longer provided any benefit.   Further Details...

Pierre Antoine-François Tardieu (February 17, 1757 - January 14, 1822), also known as Tardieu de l'Estrapade, for his address at Place de L'Estrapade, was a French geographical engraver and publisher active in Paris during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A member of the large and prolific Tardieu family, which, for over 200 years, produced multiple skilled and active engravers. A disciple of his uncle Pierre-François Tardieu, in his youth Antoine-Francois would sign his works Pierre-François (or P.F. Tardieu; 1711 - 1771) , but later in his career began using his own name or (P.A.F. Tardieu). His two sons, Pierre-Antoine Tardieu and Ambroise Tardieu (1788 - 1841), both became noted geographical engravers in the own right.   Further Details...

Source

Clerc, Nicolas Gabriel Histoire physique, morale, civile et politique de la Russie (Paris: Froullé) 1783.    

Condition

Excellent.

References

OCLC 1150734940.