An Empire Connected by Rivers.

Large-format Russian-language map of European Russia, focusing on the ever-expanding project to connect all of European Russia through its navigable rivers and canals.

From the 18th to the 20th centuries, the primary public works projects in Russia were a series of canals intended to connect Russia's major rivers and in doing so make the whole country traversable by commercial vessels. This map lays out the grand ambition of that project, illustrating European Russia's navigable rivers, unnavigable rivers, and canals.

An overland road connecting St. Petersburg and Moscow is painted in a neat orange line. The fact that this was individually called out on the map highlights the extent to which the country relied on its waterways for long-distance, large-scale transportation.

This example is substantially enriched by the inclusion of an early (19th century) onlaid English translation of the title and manuscript translation of the key from Russian to English.