Finland Map 1711 Great Northern War Lugtenburg Print - Gulf of Bothnia, Aland Islands, Lake Ladoga, Lake Saimaa

This engraved map of Finland during the Great Northern War, which ran from 1700 to 1721, was engraved by Johannes van Lugtenburg and published in The Hague by Henri Scheurleer in 1711. It was issued in a Dutch book that documented the progress of the Northern War, and it records Finland as it stood under Swedish control, just before large eastern portions were ceded to Russia under the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. The map outlines the provinces, lakes, rivers and fortified towns of the country in the eighteenth century, and its title opens with Finlande, in the French of Dutch publishing at the time. The sheet is a rare record of a country on the eve of great change, and its fine engraving rewards close study of the lakes and the fortified towns.

Pictorial relief shows mountain ranges along the Russian and Lapland borders, while a dense network of settlements and natural features fills the lake-dotted interior. The eastern edge of the sheet shows Laponie Moscovie, which extends into territories contested between Sweden and the Russian Empire under Peter the Great. Notable features include Lakes Ladoga and Saimaa, the Gulf of Bothnia and the Aland Islands. Scheurleer's Theatre Complet was a chronicle of the Northern War, and this sheet shows Dutch engraving practice applied to the military and political geography of the day. Lugtenburg's finely incised work is representative of map production in The Hague in this period.

A collector of Baltic history, a family with roots in Finland, or a reader of the Great Northern War will find a distinctive gift here. TheMapVault's Seutter map of the Finnish frontier, dated about 1742, shows the same country after the peace, whereas this Lugtenburg sheet shows it as the war was being fought. Like every print in the collection, it ships unframed and is available in a full range of sizes, from a compact desk piece to a large-format statement print. It would suit a study or a library.