A Mirror of the World: Five Centuries of Geographical Atlases.

Atlas, a Greek Titan, supporting the heavens upon his shoulders, 1993

The exhibition, entitled Speculum Orbis Terrae: Five Centuries of Geographical Atlases in the Collections of the National Library of Russia, and a published catalogue of the same name marked the completion of the final stage of an eighteen-month project, led by the National Library of Russia in close collaboration with the Netherlands Institute in St. Petersburg, and the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage. This international project was launched to help the Library safeguard the unique masterpiece of the 16th-century Netherlandish cartography in collections of the Cartography Department: the Braun-Hogenberg's Civitates Orbis Terrarum /Atlas of World Towns/ published in Cologne in 1577-1581. Six major Dutch universities (University of Amsterdam, Free University of Amsterdam, Universities of Leiden, Utrecht, Groningen and Nijmegen), and Wilhelmina Jansen Fund supported conservation of the Atlas. In September-October 2004 the restored atlas was exhibited in public.
The exhibition traced the evolution of printed atlases, starting with the very ealiest items to modern-day compact discs. The exhibition showcased more than eighty printed Russian and foreign atlases, which reflects the major achievements of world atlas-making from the 16th to 21st century. The most valuable exhibits included works by Claudius Ptolemy, Gerardus Mercator, Abraham Ortelius, Johannes Homann and other well known map makers. An important part of the Cartography Department holdings is its Russian atlas collection that contains both the first publications from the time of Tsar Peter the Great and the present-day electronic collections of maps.
A special place was occupied by the restored volumes of the Braun-Hogenberg's Civitates Orbis Terrarum /Atlas of World Towns/and plans of the Dutch towns, whose universities funded the conservation of this marvellous 16th-century Netherlandish atlas.
The exhibition catalogue describes atlases, selected for the exhibition. A bibliographic description includes author, title, details of publication, number of total volumes and pages, size, printing technique, library shelfmark. A catalogue entries also provide brief information about authors and publishers, atlas contents, history of atlas creation and exceptional features. List of atlas and map titles, index of names (authors, compilers, engravers, artists, publishers), and list of sources are printed at the end of the catalogue. The exhibition catalogue housed in the Cartography Department.

An online showcase of eighteen maps that were part of the major exhibition is available on the web: