"Black Sea". Fine map of the Black Sea, with an elaborate decorative border. The map shows eastern Europe and central Asia, including Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia. Detail is extensive in these maps, with many rivers, towns, cities, and more shown.

Between Varna (Bulgaria) and Sevastapol on the Crimean Peninsula is labelled an "Electric Telegraph to the Allied Camps." This line would have supplied rapid information to the front lines of the Crimean War, a new development in the history of warfare. The Crimean Campaign started in 1754 and would culminate with the Siege of Sevastapol and its eventual capture by French forces for the allies. The Russian defeat would seriously weaken their empire.

Rapkin's style is heavily derived from the London-based decorative mapmaker John Tallis, whose vignettes are easily recognizable. Rapkin's vignettes are equally delightful and show Sevastapol, Varna, Odesa, Sinope, and Constantinople, all cities on or near the Black Sea.