Daniel Gottlieb Messerschmidt in Transbaikalia: Cartographic Materials in Archival Heritage

Abstract

The purposeful scientific study of the Trans-Baikal territories began with the visit of a German scientist Daniel Gottlieb Messerschmidt to these areas. He was sent on the Siberian scientific journey by the personal decree of Peter the Great. D. G. Messerschmidt spent more than a year in Transbaikalia (March 3, 1724 – March 30, 1725), but this part of his journey is represented in the scientist’s papers in the St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SPbB ARAS) by only four cartographic drawings of various nature. This publication introduces these four documents into scientific circulation. The facsimile edition of the documents is accompanied by their transcription, description and commentary based on D. G. Messerschmidt’s travel notes, primarily his expedition diary. Two of the documents considered, placed in the text of diary entries for July 17, 1724 and March 6, 1725 are the fixation of small segments of the traveler’s own route. Two other drawings are the material received from informants: a copy of the map representing the territory between the Argun and Shilka rivers at their confluence into the Amur, intended for transfer to the Berg Collegium, and a drawing of the location of a hot spring near Barguzin, which D. G. Messerschmidt failed to visit. The subjects considered complement the portrait of D. G. Messerschmidt as a dedicated, conscientious and scrupulous researcher. The introduction of the considered cartographic material into scientific circulation replenishes the range of sources on the topography of Transbaikalia at the beginning of the 18th century, confirms the localization of rarely mentioned objects (Gorodishche on the Shilka, Ona Zimovie, etc.) and provides material for local history research.