Atlas of the Empire: 'Book of Drawings and Plans' 1839.

In 1830, under the guidance of Mikhail Speransky, a monumental work was completed - the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire, which included over 30,000 legislative acts from 1649 to 1825: from the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich to the end of Alexander I's rule.

The publication was released in 45 volumes, but it was accompanied by a special body of materials, the work on which took almost another decade.
With various legalizations, drawings of coins, measures and weights, land surveying plans, city and village plans, and coats of arms of provincial and district cities were published. All this required lengthy lithographing and was therefore released separately, as it was ready.

Thus, in 1839, the 'Book of Drawings and Plans (City Plans)' appeared - 416 sheets published by the Typography of the II Department of His Imperial Majesty's Chancellery in St. Petersburg.

This is an authentic visual atlas of the empire. The table of contents opened with plans of St. Petersburg - including the Petersburg side and the territory beyond the Obvodny Canal - then Narva, Oranienbaum, Shlisselburg, Yamburg; followed by Moscow and the cities: Bronitsy, Vereya, Volokolamsk.

The city plans are not just cartographic appendices to the laws on the establishment of provinces. They document the result of Catherine's urban reform: regular construction, straight streets, and public squares. Behind each sheet lies a specific decree approving the city plan.

The 'Book of Drawings' was included in the appendices without numbers - alongside the coats of arms of cities and the book of tariffs - complementing the legislative code with the measurement of space governed by these laws. Today, the publication has been digitized and is available in the public domain.