1734 KIRILOV, I. - Imperii Russici tabula generalis quo ad fieri potuit / accuratissime descripta opera et studio Ioannis Kyrilow, …

General 1734 large-format map of the Russian Empire compiled by Ivan Kirilov (1689/1695]-1737), the Chief Secretary of the Governing Senate in St. Petersburg in 1734.  This is the first general map of the state to be created in Russia on a scientific basis. It utilizes a system of astronomical reference points, a grid of conic projection, the latest expedition data, and materials from the first instrumental surveys of the country's individual territories.
A cartouche with the title contains a fragment of the procession of Neptune, allegorical images of rivers, a two-headed eagle with a broadsword and a cross, and an armillary sphere. The figure on the lower right side shows the trading scene with the aborigines. In the background, fishing tackle and fish are displayed. Some good detail in Uzbekistan.

The mapping was carried out in special state departments. The Geographical Department of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences and the Geographical Department of the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty issued general maps not only in Russian but also in Latin and French because European states and Russia mutually interested in disseminating information about their territory.

The map shows the boundaries of states and individual territories, administrative boundaries within the Russian Empire; administrative centers, other cities and settlements; hydrography; relief; and vegetation. The water resources are most accurately depicted, including rivers, lakes (sometimes with an indication of water quality), and even excavated tanks and wells are marked in drylands. The thematic elements are also widely represented: military and economic objects (fortresses, redoubts, sentries, defensive lines, factories); the settlement of the indigenous peoples (in the Asian part of the state); territories of nomadic peoples; a variety of historical information (national or personal priority of geographical discoveries, ancient settlements ("ruins"), the Great Wall of China, etc. All thematic information, except clearly localized objects, is represented in the form of inscriptions.

Much attention was paid to the map's decoration. The thematic cartouches and drawings glorified Russia's military and economic power; glorified the reigning persons; reminded of historical events; told about economic activity and scientific research and showed the arms of provinces, governorships, and cities. 

It is the first printed map to show the cartographic results of Vitus Bering's First Kamchatka Expedition (1727 - 1730) and the first appearance of any part of Alaska (St. Lawrence Island) on a printed map. The map's coverage extends from the Black Sea to the Bering Strait, and from the North Pole to the Persian Gulf, Korea, Japan, and the Yangze River. 

Decorative cartouche work adorns all four corners, underscoring the Tzardom's wealth and power.

This is the first published scientific map of the Russian Empire. A new comprehensive survey of the Russian Empire was ordered by Peter the Great in 1721. Ivan Kirilov, an accomplished surveyor with the Senate Chancellery, was assigned to the complex task of compiling explorers' data and newly commissioned local surveys. According to Bagrow, 'Kirilov was one of the most enlightened Russians of the early eighteenth century' and 'one of the first of Russian map-makers to apply Western-European methods of cartography.' 

Bagrow writes, 'the general map of Russia … while not giving very many details, is yet the earliest map that presents Russia as a whole on more or less accurate lines, together with her seacoasts and network of rivers.

This map was compiled by Ivan Kirilov and published in Petropoli, Russia, as part of Kirilov's Atlas Imperii Russici. After Kirilov's death, most of his map plates and existing copies of his atlas were acquired by the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and suppressed, as the academy was at the time compiling its own competing atlas (issued 1745). As a result, all examples of Kirilov's work are extremely rare.

According to map historian Leo Bagrow, there are only two complete surviving examples of his atlas, at the Moscow State Archives and the the Ecclesiastical Seminary at Irkutsk.

Based upon their representation in institutional collections, is sure that some of his maps, like the present map of Russia, were initially printed in greater quantities and disseminated as separate issues. 

Examples of this map are exceedingly scarce.