Subject: Atlases
Period: 1812 (published)
Publication:
Color: Hand Color
Size:
15 x 21.2 inches
38.1 x 53.8 cm
This is a Russian edition of Le Sage's Genealogical, Chronological, Historical, and Geographical Atlas, first published in English in London in 1801. Le Sage was a pseudonym for Emmanuel-Augustin-Dieudonné-Joseph, Comte de Las Cases (1766-1842), a French atlas-maker and author. The Le Sage atlas, as it became known, was quite popular, and was translated into French, German, Italian, Cyrillic and several other languages through the 1850's. The first Cyrillic edition appeared in 1809, translated by E. M. Shavrov, who updated it with the latest historical facts and dedicated the atlas to Russian Emperor Alexander I.
The atlas consists of 33 double-page plates including tables with 17 interspersed maps. The colorful thematic tables contain a bewildering amount of information on the genealogy and chronology of the royal families in Europe. Each group of tables is followed by the related map, surrounded by additional text. Of particular interest are the large, attractive double-hemispheric world and western hemisphere maps. On the map of the western hemisphere, North America is divided into the United States, British possessions and Spanish possessions. There is little information in the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska has a rudimentary outline.
Elephant folio; dedication page, introduction, and 33 double-page plates. Hardbound in modern quarter calf with tips over faux snakeskin covered boards, with raised bands and gilt tooling and titling on spine.
References:
Condition: B
The maps and plates are in full contemporary color with light toning, minor foxing, light soiling, and archival tissue repairs along the centerfolds on recto. The color on several of the maps has oxidized a bit. There are some worm tracks scattered throughout the volume, mostly at bottom and not affecting the maps. There is a dampstain on the introduction page at bottom. The volume has been handsomely rebound with new pastedowns and endpapers. The covers are generally in excellent condition with the exception of a circular abrasion on the front cover at top left.