The first accurate map of the Caspian Sea

DELISLE, Guillaume.

Carte Marine de la Mer Caspiene levée Suivant les Ordres de S.M.Czariene...
Paris, 1721. Coloured. Two sheets conjoined, total 880 x 620mm.

Despite Alexander the Great visiting the Caspian Sea two thousand years earlier, it was Karl van Verden, a Dutchman sailor working for the Russians, who mapped the sea properly for the first time (1719-21).
The two baroque cartouches and eight insets make this a very striking map.


Stock ID : 10995