Siberia as Explored by Behring: Original 18th Century Hand-Colored Map by Bowen, 1744

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This is an original 18th century hand-colored map entitled "An Exact Chart of all the Countries through which Capt. Behring … Read more This is an original 18th century hand-colored map entitled "An Exact Chart of all the Countries through which Capt. Behring Travelled from Tobolski, Capital of Siberia to the Country of Kamtschatka" by Emanuel Bowen. It was published in 1744 in London in John Harris's "Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca" or "A Complete Collection of Voyages and Travels". This highly detailed and colorful map is the first English language map to show Vitus Behring's route of exploration of northwest Russia. Czar Peter the Great commissioned Captain Vitus Bering (1681-1741) a Danish born explorer to lead the First Kamchatka Expedition (1725-30) to create an inventory of its Siberia holdings. The group explored the Kamchatka Peninsula in the east, including what is now known as the Bering Strait. The map depicts the forts, outposts and missions that had already been established in the region. The map extends from the capital of Siberia, Tobolski, in the west the the Kamchatka Peninsula coastline in the east. It includes the Ob, Irtysh, and Lena Rivers and Lake Baikal, the World's deepest lake. The Second Kamchatka Expedition (1732-41), again led by Behring, discovered and surveyed modern-day Alaska. This led to Russian outposts in North America along the Pacific Coast, including those in Northern California. The areas covered by the Second Kamchatka Expedition are not included on this map which preceded it.
The map is embellished by a decorative title cartouche in the upper portion of the map which includes two local Siberian hunters flanking the title and a reindeer on the right. There is an adjacent Compass Rose on the right.
This striking, beautifully hand-colored and historically important original 18th century map is printed on laid chain-linked paper with wide margins. The sheet measures 9.25" high and15.75" wide. There is a small chip and short tears at the edge of the lower margin on the left and irregularity of the lower edge to the right. The map is otherwise in very good condition. See less