The article deals with the identification of the memorials of domestic cartography. The study of cartographic heritage is one of the main tasks in the Russian history of this science. The selection of works for classification as artifacts of our cartography is based on scientific analysis and examining the materials. A clear definition of a map-making memorial does not exist today; in this regard much attention is paid to the methods of studying such works. The criteria and methods for determining the significance of various publications, as well as their application to cartography, are considered, the procedure for entering a map or atlas into the Register of Book Monuments of the Russian Federation is investigated. On the example of the Map of Russian possessions in Transcaucasia, the way is shown from the discovery of the source, its examination, the identification of historical value, to classifying a cartographic work as a book and cartographic artifact.