Topographic and picturesque plan of [Mykolaiv]
Empress Catherine II as imagined by ChatGPT
ChatGPT using prompt "generate an image of Empress Catherine the great of Russia, at the age of 70 looking slightly concerned."
Sheet from the atlas of the Don River produced by Cornelius Cruys and published in 1704.
LinkNieuw pas-kaart boek, behelsende de groote rivier Don of Tanais, na deselfs waaragtige gelegenheydt strekking, en cours, van de stadt Woronetz, tot daar hy in zee valdt met zyn invloeiende stroomen, eylanden, steden, dorpen, kloosters etc.: daer benevens een zeer curieuse paskaart vande Azofsche zee, of Palus Moeotis en Pontus Euxinus of Swarte zee met alle haar diepten, droogtens, aangelegten rivieren, havens, steden etc. Zynde daar by gevoegdt een afbeelding der doorgraving, om den Don door de Ilafla te leyden inde Wolga of Astracansche rivier alles zeer nauwkeurig, en door eygene ondervinding opgenomen, gepeylt, afgemeeten, en opgedragen
On Sunday August 10, 1796, the crowds at the market place in Nikolaev (Mykolaiv) yelled "ura!" and seized 6 carts of watermelon. 6 men were arrested: Korochkin, from the 90-gun Sozon, Stepan Efimov, who arrived on a cutter transporting officers from the brigantine Nikodim, Osip Baskakov, who came with officers from the frigate Nikon, a skipper named Koverin, a ship carpenter named Filip Kuz’min, and a garrison soldier named Yakov Yakovlev. Tales of their exploits would soon make their way to Kherson.
Image generated with DALLE-3 using prompt: can you generate an image of a group of late 18th century French spies in a sea port town in imperial Russia?
DALLE-3 image generated with the prompt "rioters at an outdoor market in Russia in the 18th century throwing watermelons"
Topology "map" of the rivers of southern New England produced by Daniel Huffman, cartographer and author of the blog, "somethingaboutmaps."
View of Count Mikhail Vorontsov's palace in the distance with Crimean Tatar men gathered in a circle in the foreground. According to Demidov, the (coastal) region around Alupka, "washed in sunlight and bathed by the sea," was quite the fashionable destination as a romantic realm of summer residences studded with "Gothic castles, English cottages, Swiss chalets, [and] American farms" [28] The image is dated 12 August 1837.
Anatolii Demidov, Album du Voyage dans la Russie méridionale et la Crimée, par la Hongrie, La Valachie et la Moldavie>, ed. Ernest Bourdin (Paris, 1838)
Image courtesy of the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library
Halte d'un convoi militaire russe (pres Yalta)
View of Russian soldiers resting at the side of the road. In peacetime, soldiers were tasked with public works projects. This group was building the road between Yalta and Alupka. Image date: 12 August 1837
A Crimean Tatar family travels on horseback and on foot near Yalta. Women in burkas carry infants in their laps. According to Demidov, the Tatars were free to pursue their favorite economic activities, including the farming "at which they excel." Demidov praised their mastery of irrigation, orchardry and gardening and pointed out that "during the summer season, the influx of wealthy people who come to inhabit the southern coast of Crimea offers Tatar farmers a profitable outlet for their products..." Demidov described the Tatars as "well-housed, well-dressed, and, in a word, well-provided with all they could need for their way of life." (30) Demidov's view of Tatar life should be read against the many sources that offer a dramatically different perspective. The lithograph is dated 15 August 1837.