1849 Meyer Map of European Russia

This is a lovely map of European Russia dating to 1849 by Joseph Meyer. It covers the European portions of Russia from the Gulf of Bothnia to the Ural Mountains and from the Arctic south as far as the Black Sea. The modern day nations of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland are included. Throughout, the map identifies various cities, towns, rivers and assortment of additional topographical details. Two insets detailing the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg are included in the top left quadrant of the map.

When this map was printed, Russia was ruled by Tsar Nicholas I who adopted the doctrine of 'Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality' and was known to be one of the most reactionary monarchs in Russia. In 1825, Russian army officers, called the Decembrists, protested against Nicholas I's ascension to the throne. The Decembrists, so named because their revolt started in December, favored Nicholas I's brother, Constantine, who seemed amenable to a British style constitutional monarchy. When Constantine abdicated the throne in 1825, the Decembrists refused to accept the more autocratic rule of Nicholas I. Had Constantine not abdicated and the Decembrists been successful, the bloody Bolshevik Revolution may never have occurred.

This map was issued as plate no. 7 in Meyer's Zeitung Atlas. Although all the maps in this atlas are not individually dated, the title page and maps were often updated while the imprint with the date was not, causing confusion to the exact date for some of the maps. Moreover some maps in the atlas were taped in at a later date as an update to the atlas. We have dated the maps in this collection to the best of our ability.