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1652 Jansson Antique Map of Japan - Korea as an Island, China - Beautiful

1652 Jansson Antique Map of Japan - Korea as an Island, China - Beautiful

Antique Map

Description:
This fine, beautifully hand coloured original  antique, early scarce map of Japan & Korea (as an Island) with parts of eastern China was published in the 1639 French edition of Gerardi Mercators Atlantis Novi Atlas by Jan Jansson and Henricus Hondius.
A beautiful map with sturdy, clean paper original wide margins and beautiful original hand colouring.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Green, red, orange, yellow, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 22 1/2in x 18in (570mm x 455mm)
Plate size: - 17 1/2in x 13 1/2in (445mm x 340mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Uplift along centerfold
Verso: - Re-enforced along centerfold

Background:
This map published by Jansson is taken directly from the Jodocus Hondius map - first published in 1606 - of Japan which faithfully followed the Ortelius/Teixeira style. Jansson has added an explanation for Korea, saying he  was not yet certain whether it was an island or part of the mainland. The rest of Jansson's changes were ornamental, replacing the bottom Chinese Junk with a European ship & monster as well as changing the title and scale cartouches.
Luis Teixeira'a map, which was published by Ortelius in 1595, began a process  that would last for three centuries, in which Western printed maps of Japan increasingly approached geographical reality.

$1,975.00 USD
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1950 Large Antique Map of the PR China - Ist Map by PRC after Revolution 1949 Rare

1950 Large Antique Map of the PR China - Ist Map by PRC after Revolution 1949 Rare

  • Title : The Great Land and The People of China (Translated)
  • Date : 1950
  • Condition: (B) Good Condition
  • Ref:  93112
  • Size: 58 1/2in x 42 1/2in (1.485m x 1.080m)

Description:
This original extremely large very rare folding antique lithograph wall map of the Peoples Republic of China and surrounding countries was published by the Peoples Republic of China in 1950.
Considering the Chinese Communist State was established after the revolution of 1949, this map is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, available map of China released by the communist state and given the secretive nature of the PRC in the 1950s the rarity of this map cannot be overstated.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 58 1/2in x 42 1/2in (1.485m x 1.080m)
Plate size: - 58 1/2in x 42 1/2in (1.485m x 1.080m)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Loss to bottom sections of margins
Plate area: - Folds as issued
Verso: - Folds re-enforced on verso with archival tape

Background: 
Following the Chinese Civil War and victory of Mao Zedongs Communist forces over the Kuomintang forces of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, who fled to Taiwan, Mao declared the founding of the Peoples Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Maos first goal was a total overhaul of the land ownership system, and extensive land reforms. Chinas old system of gentry landlord ownership of farmland and tenant peasants was replaced with a distribution system in favor of poor/landless peasants which significantly reduced economic inequality. Over a million landlords were executed. In Zhangzhuangcun, in the more thoroughly reformed north of the country, most landlords and rich peasants had lost all their land and often their lives or had fled. All formerly landless workers had received land, which eliminated this category altogether. As a result, middling peasants, who now accounted for 90 percent of the village population, owned 90.8 percent of the land. Mao laid heavy theoretical emphasis on class struggle, and in 1953 began various campaigns to persecute former landlords and merchants, including the execution of more powerful landlords. Drug trafficking in the country as well as foreign investment were largely wiped out.
Mao believed that socialism would eventually triumph over all other ideologies, and following the First Five-Year Plan based on a Soviet-style centrally controlled economy, Mao took on the ambitious project of the Great Leap Forward in 1958, beginning an unprecedented process of collectivization in rural areas. Mao urged the use of communally organized iron smelters to increase steel production, pulling workers off of agricultural labor to the point that large amounts of crops rotted unharvested. Mao decided to continue to advocate these smelters despite a visit to a factory steel mill which proved to him that high quality steel could only be produced in a factory. He thought that ending the program would dampen peasant enthusiasm for his political mobilization, the Great Leap Forward.
The implementation of Maoist thought in China may have been responsible for 40–70 million deaths including famine during peacetime, with the Great Leap Forward, Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957–1958, and the Cultural Revolution. Millions died from both executions and forced labour. Because of Maos land reforms during the Great Leap Forward, which resulted in massive famines, thirty million perished between 1958 and 1961. By the end of 1961 the birth rate was nearly cut in half because of malnutrition. Active campaigns, including party purges and reeducation resulted in the imprisonment or execution of those deemed to hold views contrary to Maoist ideals. Maos failure with the Leap reduced his power in government, whose administrative duties fell to Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping.
To impose socialist orthodoxy and rid China of old elements, and at the same time serving certain political goals, Mao began the Cultural Revolution in May 1966. The campaign was far reaching into all aspects of Chinese life. Red Guards terrorized the streets as many ordinary citizens were deemed counter-revolutionaries. Education and public transportation came to a nearly complete halt. Daily life involved shouting slogans and reciting Mao quotations. Many prominent political leaders, including Liu and Deng, were purged and deemed capitalist-roaders. The campaign would not come to a complete end until the death of Mao in 1976.

Publishing in the Peoples Republic of China
Publishing in China dates from the invention of woodblock printing around the eighth century A.D. and was greatly expanded with the invention of movable clay type in the eleventh century. From the tenth to the twelfth century, Kaifeng, Meishan, Hangzhou, and Jianyang were major printing centers. In the nineteenth century, China acquired movable lead type and photogravure printing plates and entered the age of modern book and magazine printing. The largest of the early publishing houses were the Commercial Press (Shangwu Yinshuguan), established in 1897, and the China Publishing House (Zhonghua Shuju), established in 1912, both of which were still operating in 1987. Following the May Fourth Movement of 1919, publishers, especially those associated with various groups of intellectuals, proliferated. During the Chinese civil war, New China Booksellers (Xinhua Shudian) published a large amount of Marxist literature and educational materials in the communist-controlled areas. On the eve of the establishment of the People\\\'s Republic in 1949, there were over 700 New China Booksellers offices.

Between 1949 and 1952, the New China Booksellers offices scattered throughout the country were nationalized and given responsibility publishing, printing, and distribution. Also, several small private publishers were brought under joint stateprivate ownership, and by 1956 all private publishers had been nationalized. After a brief flourishing during the Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956-57, the publishing industry came under strong political pressure in the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957. The industry had not fully recovered from this campaign when it was plunged into the Cultural Revolution, a period in which publishing was severely curtailed and limited mainly to political tracts supporting various campaigns. Following the Cultural Revolution, publishing again flourished in unprecedented ways. In 1982 the China National Publishing Administration, the umbrella organization of Chinese publishers, was placed under the Ministry of Culture, but actual management of the industry was directed through four systems of administration: direct state administration; administration by committees or organizations of the State Council or the party Central Committee; armed forces administration; and administration by provinces, autonomous regions, or special municipalities.

$1,500.00 USD
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1930 Commercial Press Large Antique Map of Hangzhou, West Lake China - Very Rare

1930 Commercial Press Large Antique Map of Hangzhou, West Lake China - Very Rare

  • TitleMap of Hangchow and West Lake and Environs... Commercial Press Ltd
  • Date : 1924
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
  • Ref:  40172
  • Size: 43in x 31in (1.090m x 790mm)

Description:
This very large, rare original antique folding map of the Chinese city of Hangzhou, West Lake & the Qiantang River was published by the Chinese publishing house Commercial Press LTD in the 13th Year of the Chinese Republic, October 1924.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 43in x 31in (1.090m x 790mm)
Plate size: - 43in x 31in (1.090m x 790mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued, slight loss in corner folds
Verso: - Folds re-enforced with archival tape

Background: 
Hangzhou is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang Province in East China. It sits at the head of Hangzhou Bay, which separates Shanghai and Ningbo. Hangzhou grew to prominence as the southern terminus of the Grand Canal and has been one of the most renowned and prosperous cities in China for much of the last millennium.
The city remained an important port until the middle of the Ming dynasty era, when its harbor slowly silted up. Under the Qing, it was the site of an imperial army garrison.
In 1856 and 1860, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied Hangzhou. The city was heavily damaged during its conquest, occupation, and eventual reconquest by the Qing army.
Hangzhou was ruled by the Republic of China government under the Kuomintang from 1927 to 1937 and 1945 to 1949. On May 3, 1949, the Peoples Liberation Army entered Hangzhou and the city came under Communist control. After Deng Xiaopings reformist policies began in the end of 1978, Hangzhou took advantage of being situated in the Yangtze River Delta to bolster its development. It is now one of Chinas most prosperous major cities.

West Lake is a freshwater lake in Hangzhou, China. It is divided into five sections by three causeways. There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands within the lake.
The earliest recorded name for West Lake was the Wu Forest River (Wǔlín Shuǐ). The Book of Hans Geography Column says, Qiantang, affiliated to the western governor general. Wu Forest Mountain (Wǔlínshān) is the origin of the Wu Forest River. Running east into the sea, it covers 830 li (roughly, 350 km or 220 mi). Other former names include the Qian River, Qiantang Lake, Mingsheng Lake, Jinniu Lake, Shihan Lake, Shang Lake, Lianyan Lake, Fangsheng Pond, Xizi Lake, Gaoshi Lake, Xiling Lake, Meiren Lake, Xianzhe Lake, and Mingyue Lake. But only two names were widely accepted in history and recorded in historical documents. One is Qiantang Lake, due to the fact that Hangzhou was called Qiantang in ancient times. The other name is West Lake, due to the lake being west of the city. The name West Lake first appeared in two poems of Bai Juyi, Bestowed on guests as returning from West Lake in the evening and looking back to Gushan Temple (西湖晚歸回望孤山寺贈諸客) and On the returning boat to Hangzhou (杭州回舫). Since the Northern Song dynasty, most poems and articles of scholars used the name West Lake, while the name Qiantang Lake was gradually deprecated. The request of dredging West Lake written by Su Shi was the first time that West Lake appeared in an official document.

The Commercial Press 1897 - Present
The Commercial Press is the first modern publishing organisation in China. In 1897, 26-year-old Xia Ruifang and three of his friends founded The Commercial Press in Shanghai. The group soon received financial backing and began publishing books.[1] In 1914, Xia attempted to buy out a Japanese company that had invested in the Commercial Press. Four days later he was assassinated. There was much speculation as to who was behind the assassination; no one was ever arrested for the crime.
Commercial Press was bombed by the Imperial Japanese Army during the January 28 Incident. The bombing destroyed its headquarters in Zhabei, Shanghai, as well as the attached East Library and its collection of tens of thousands of rare books.
At the turn of the century Commercial Press became a major publisher of textbooks. Today it is headquartered in Beijing and continues as an active publishing house of Chinese language learning materials including dictionaries, textbooks, pedagogical texts, and a cultural magazine called The World of Chinese.
Timeline:
1902 it was set up with a forward attitude toward both Chinese and Western studies.
1903 it became Chinas first primary education textbook publisher. It later produced 2,550 secondary school textbooks that became popular in the country.
1904 it launched the Eastern Miscellany (東方雜誌) with editor-in-chief (杜亞泉).
1907 the press moved to an 80-acre (320,000 m2) new plant.
1909 it launched the Education Magazine (教育雜誌).
1910 it launched The Short Story Magazine (小說月報).
1911 it launched the Youth Magazine (少年雜誌).
January 1914, the founder of Commercial Press, Xia Ruifang, was stabbed to death.
1914 it set up a branch in Hong Kong Museum of the same year. It also launched the Students Magazine (學生雜誌).
1915 it printed the first dictionary.
1916 it set up a branch in Singapore.
1921 with Hu Shihs recommendation, Wang Yunwu (王雲五) became the general manager modernising it into a business. The first edition of Zhongguo renming dacidian was published.
1924 it opened the Commercial Press Oriental Library.
28 January 1932, the January 28 Incident occurred. The Japanese aircraft bombed the Commercial Press in conjunction with the Oriental Library. Imperial Japanese army would occupy Shanghai the next day. TCP resumed operation in 1932.
1949, TCPs operation was relocated away from China after Liberation Army had entered Shanghai.
1954, the TCPs headquarter was moved from Shanghai to Beijing shifting the focus to academic works published in the West.
1993, the separate Commercial Press companies in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia established a joint venture to become The Commercial Press International Limited.
2011, the Beijing office was changed into limited liability company (商务印书馆有限公司).
When China publishing and Media Holdings Co.,Ltd. (中国出版传媒股份有限公司) was founded in 2011-12-19, the newly founded company became the parent company.

$750.00 USD
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1646 Jan Jansson Antique Map of China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, SE Asia

1646 Jan Jansson Antique Map of China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, SE Asia

  • Title : China Veteribus Sinarum Regio nune Incolis Tame dicta
  • Date : 1646
  • Size: 22 1/2in x 18in (570mm x 455mm)
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Ref:  35601

Description:
This incredibly important, original hand coloured copper plate engraved antique map of China by Jan Jansson was published in the 1646 French edition of Janssonius Atlas Nouvs

This antique map Jansson is a stunning example of 17th-century cartography. The map depicts China, Taiwan, and parts of Korea and Japan in intricate detail, with mountains, rivers, and cities clearly labeled and illustrated. The map is adorned with decorative elements, including a detailed cartouche featuring a Chinese dragon and two figures in traditional dress. The title of the map, translated as "China, formerly known as Sina, now inhabited by the Tame," highlights the historical significance of the region and its changing cultural identity over time. Overall, this map is a beautiful and informative representation of China during a pivotal period in its history.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 22 1/2in x 18in (570mm x 455mm)
Plate size: - 20in x 16 1/2in (508mm x 415mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - Bottom centerfold re-joined, not affecting the image

Background:
This antique map of China, Japan & Korea was created by Johannes Janssonius (Jansson), a prominent Dutch cartographer of the 17th century. The map was published in Amsterdam in the mid 17th century and is considered one of the most important early maps of China.
The map shows China as it was known at the time, including its various provinces, rivers, and mountain ranges. It also depicts neighboring regions such as Korea, Japan, and parts of Southeast Asia. The map is rich in detail and includes various cities and towns, as well as important landmarks such as the Great Wall of China.
Jansson based his map on earlier maps of China, including those produced by the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci and the Dutch explorer Jan Huygen van Linschoten. However, Jansson added his own cartographic touches, such as more precise depictions of the rivers and mountain ranges.
The map's title, China Veteribus Sinarum Regio nune Incolis Tame dicta, translates to China, the ancient land of the Sinae, now known to its inhabitants as Tame. The term Sinae was a term used by ancient Greek and Roman geographers to refer to the Chinese people, while Tame was the name used by the Chinese themselves to refer to their country.
This Map was highly prized by collectors and scholars in Europe during the 17th century. It remains a valuable resource for historians, geographers, and anyone interested in the history of China and cartography.

Jansson, Jan (Janssonius) 1588-1664
Johannes Janssonius, more commonly known to us as Jan Jansson, was a Dutch cartographer and publisher who made significant contributions to the field of cartography during the 17th century.
Born in Arnhem, Netherlands, Janssonius was the son of a bookseller and publisher, who introduced him to the world of publishing and cartography. After studying in Amsterdam, Janssonius took over his father's business and began to publish maps and atlases, many of which were based on the work of famous cartographers like Gerard Mercator.
In 1621, Janssonius formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Henricus Hondius, and together they published atlases, maps, and globes under the name "Hondius-Janssonius". This partnership lasted until Hondius' death in 1651, after which Janssonius continued to publish under his own name.
Janssonius' maps and atlases were highly regarded for their accuracy and detail, and his work was widely distributed throughout Europe. His maps covered a wide range of regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Janssonius also contributed to the development of the engraving and printing techniques used in cartography, which allowed for more precise and detailed maps to be produced.
Jan Janssonius died in Amsterdam in 1664, but his legacy lived on through his maps and atlases, which remained popular among cartographers and collectors for centuries to come. Today, Janssonius is remembered as one of the most important cartographers of the 17th century, and his work continues to be studied and admired by scholars and enthusiasts around the world.

Please note all items auctioned are genuine, we do not sell reproductions. A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) can be issued on request.

$2,250.00 USD
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1696 Alexis Hubert Jaillot Large Antique Map of Asia - Saudi Arabia to Australia

1696 Alexis Hubert Jaillot Large Antique Map of Asia - Saudi Arabia to Australia

  • Title : L' Asie divisee en ses Principales Regions....Hubert Jaillot....1696
  • Ref #:  17022
  • Size: 35 1/2in x 23in (900mm x 585mm)
  • Date : 1696
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition

Description:
This very large original hand coloured antique map of Asia, from Arabia to the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, was engraved in 1696 - dated in title - and was published by Alexis Hubert Jaillot in his monumental Atlas Nouveau.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 35 1/2in x 23in (900mm x 585mm)
Plate size: - 34 1/2in x 22 1/2in (875mm x 570mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (15mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning in margin
Plate area: - Re-enforced along centerfold, light age toning, old ink text to bottom of map
Verso: - Soiling

Background:
The map include lines of latitude and longitude, some topographical details, location of settlements, rivers, and lakes (including the lakes Parime, thought to be where the fabulous El Dorado was located) as well as the boundaries of the possessions of the European claimants to South America.
Extremely decorative cartouche with dedication to Le Dauphin, and his coat of arms in top.
After Nicolas Sanson, Hubert Jaillot and Pierre Duval were the most important French cartographers of the seventeenth & eighteenth centuries. Jaillot, originally a sculptor, became interested in geography after his marriage to the daughter of Nicolas Berey (1606-65), a famous map colourist, and went into partnership in Paris with Sanson's sons. There, from about 1669, he undertook the re-engraving, enlarging and re-publishing of the Sanson maps in sheet form and in atlases, sparing no effort to fill the gap in the map trade left by the destruction of Blaeu's printing establishment in Amsterdam in 1672. Many of his maps were printed in Amsterdam (by Pierre Mortier) as well as in Paris. One of his most important works was a magnificent sea atlas, Le Neptune François, published in 1693 and compiled in co-operation with J D Cassini. This was re-published shortly afterwards by Pierre Mortier in Amsterdam with French, Dutch and English texts, the charts having been re-engraved. Eventually, after half a century, most of the plates were used again as the basis for a revised issue published by J N Bellin in 1753.(Ref: Tooley; M&B)

$1,225.00 USD
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1680 Frederick de Wit Large Antiue Map of Tartary, China, Japan, Mogul, Formosa

1680 Frederick de Wit Large Antiue Map of Tartary, China, Japan, Mogul, Formosa

  • Title : Magnae Tartariae Magni Mogolis Imperii, Japoniae et Chinae...F de Wit
  • Ref #:  17030
  • Size: 25in x 22 1/2in (635mm x 570mm)
  • Date : 1680
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This large, handsome original hand coloured copper plate engraved antique map of Tartary including China, Japan, Central Asia, parts of the Mogul Empire, Persia and Siberia - was published by Fredrick De Wit in 1680.
The map is finely engraved with detail, with fine original colour on sturdy, strong paper.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Yellow, orange
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 25in x 22 1/2in (635mm x 570mm)
Plate size: - 22in x 17 1/2in (560mm x 445mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning
Plate area: - Light age toning
Verso: - Light age toning

Background:
Although Arabia, Persia, the Silk road to China and those parts of Northern India conquered by Alexander the Great were known to the classical world, it was not until the year AD 1375 that a map giving some idea of the real shape and size of Asia was compiled. This was the famous Catalan Map, based on reports of Franciscan missionaries and the writings of Marco Polo. A century or so later in the first Ptolemaic Atlases, there were altogether twelve maps of Asia which, of course, revealed no more or less than Ptolemy's view of the Ancient world, but in the expanded Waldseemuller editions of 1513 and 1532 there were modern regional maps including much information from Marco Polo's travels.
Later 16th century maps continue to show many of the distorted outlines copied from Ptolemy although by this time India, Ceylon and the Indies were gaining more recognizable shape. Munster was again the first publisher to print a separate map of Asia and later Ortelius issued the first separately printed map of China in 1584 and Japan in 1595. In the next century highly decorative maps were published by Van Den Keere in 1614, Speed 1627, Blaeu 1630, De Wit 1660, Visscher 1680 and others too numerous to list. (Ref: Tooley, M&B)

$999.00 USD
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1652 Jan Jansson Antique Map of East & Central Asia, China to Russia - Tartary

1652 Jan Jansson Antique Map of East & Central Asia, China to Russia - Tartary

Description:
This handsome beautifully hand coloured original antique map of huge region of east & central Asia from China, to Central Asia, The Caspian Sea & parts of European Russia was published by Jan Jansson in the 1652 French edition of Atlas Novus.

Background: This handsome map maps the whole of eastern Central Asia from the Caspian Sea to the Great Wall, Northern China and Manchuria.
This map is dated from a time when Tartaria vaguely meant those regions to the north of Persia, west of China & to the east of Russia. The name Siberia only began to be applied with the gradual eastward expansion of the Russian Cossacks into those areas hinted at in the accounts of Marco Polo from three centuries earlier.
The Mythical and legendary nature of the geography of this vast interior is emphasised by the inclusion of devils and dragons in the Desertum Lop to the left of the Great Wall. 
The rest of the map is full of detail both real and myth, some of which is no doubt borrowed from the writings of Marco Polo considered at the time one of the foremost expert on China and Central Asia.
The newly discovered northern coastline of Nova Zembla is shown with a notation concerning the Dutch expedition led by Willem Barents in 1594-96. Interesting in Siberia, Ung quae Gog and Sumongul quae Mogog, which refers to the mythological lands of Gog and Magog. These lands, noted in the Bible as being situated in the remotest parts of the earth, were originally depicted on maps just north of Israel. The map extends west to include the Caspien Sea and Russia, but the primary focus of the map is Tartaria, Central Asia, China and Asiatic Russia. (Ref Tooley M&B)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Green, red, orange, yellow, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic 
Paper size: - 24in x 20in (610mm x 510mm)
Plate size: - 20in x 15 1/4in (510mm x 395mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

$650.00 USD
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1796 Barrow Large Antique Map Sea Chart Lord Macartneys Voyage England to China

1796 Barrow Large Antique Map Sea Chart Lord Macartneys Voyage England to China

  • Title : A General Chart on Mercators Projection, To Shew The Track of the Lion and Hindostan from England to the Gulph of Pekin in China, and of their return to England, with the daily statement of the Barometer and Thermometer as observed at noon; containing also the limits of the Chinese Empire, as extended by the Conquests of the present Emperor Tchien-Lung
  • Ref #:  93409
  • Size: 39 1/2in x 26 1/2in (1.00m x 675mm)
  • Date : 1796
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition

Description:
This very large original copper plate engraved antique map, a chart, by John Barrow, in 1796, was issued in the atlas volume of the official account by George Staunton of Lord George Macartneys travels to China, An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emporer of China in 1796..

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Light and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 39 1/2in x 26 1/2in (1.00m x 675mm)
Plate size: - 38in x 24 1/2in (960mm x 620mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Folds as issued
Plate area: - Light soiling along bottom folds, as issued
Verso: - Bottom folds re-enforced along bottom folds

Background:
Lord George Macartney was Britains first envoy to China, tasked with convincing Emperor Qianlong to ease restrictions on trade between Great Britain and China and to allow the 1st British embassy to be established. He was not successful in either of these endeavours.
The map shows the track of two ships, the Lion and Hindostan, on their routes from England to China and back. Each days progress was recorded along the route, with several notations to the dangers along the way.
The map was drawn by John Barrow, who was the private secretary to Lord Macartney.

The chart extends from Turon Bay (present day Da Nang, Vietnam) up the coast of eastern Asia to the Gulph of Leao-Tung in the Whang-Hai or Yellow Sea (the Gulf of Bohai in the Yellow Sea). The track of the Lion, Hindostan, and Tenders is traced, with soundings, sea bottom classifications, temperature and barometric readings, dates, and assorted notes, such as Lion and Tenders parted from the Hindostan in the fog. China is divided into several provinces, and many towns and cities are named, including Beijing (here referred to as Pekin). A portion of the Great Wall of China is depicted and rivers are accompanied by notes on their courses and sources. Taiwan is depicted with incomplete borders to the east of the ships\' track. Engraved by B. Baker and published by George Nicol.

Barrow, Sir John 1764 - 1848
Barrow, 1st Baronet, was an English civil servant, geographer, linguist and writer. Barrows legacy has been met with mixed analysis. Some historians regard Barrow as an instrument of imperialism who portrayed Africa as a resource rich land devoid of any human or civilized elements. Nonetheless, other historians consider Barrow to have promoted humanitarianism and rights for South Africans.
Barrow was born the only child of Roger Barrow, a tanner in the village of Dragley Beck, in the parish of Ulverston, Lancashire. He was schooled at Town Bank grammar school, Ulverston, but left at age 13 to found a Sunday school for the poor.
Barrow was employed as superintending clerk of an iron foundry at Liverpool. At only 16, he went on a whaling expedition to Greenland. By his twenties, he was teaching mathematics, in which he had always excelled, at a private school in Greenwich.
Barrow taught mathematics to the son of Sir George Leonard Staunton; through Stauntons interest, he was attached on the first British embassy to China from 1792 to 1794 as comptroller of the household to Lord Macartney. He soon acquired a good knowledge of the Chinese language, on which he subsequently contributed articles to the Quarterly Review; and the account of the embassy published by Sir George Staunton records many of Barrows valuable contributions to literature and science connected with China.
Barrow ceased to be officially connected with Chinese affairs after the return of the embassy in 1794, but he always took much interest in them, and on critical occasions was frequently consulted by the British government.
Some historians attribute the stagnation thesis to Barrow; that China was an extremely civilized nation that was in a process of decay by the time of European contact.
In 1797, Barrow accompanied Lord Macartney as private secretary in his important and delicate mission to settle the government of the newly acquired colony of the Cape of Good Hope. Barrow was entrusted with the task of reconciling the Boer settlers and the native Black population and of reporting on the country in the interior. In the course of the trip, he visited all parts of the colony; when he returned, he was appointed auditor-general of public accounts. He then decided to settle in South Africa, married, and bought a house in 1800 in Cape Town. However, the surrender of the colony at the peace of Amiens (1802) upset this plan.
During his travels through South Africa, Barrow compiled copious notes and sketches of the countryside that he was traversing. The outcome of his journeys was a map which, despite its numerous errors, was the first published modern map of the southern parts of the Cape Colony. Barrows descriptions of South Africa greatly influenced Europeans understanding of South Africa and its peoples. William John Burchell (1781–1863) was particularly scathing: As to the miserable thing called a map, which has been prefixed to Mr. Barrows quarto, I perfectly agree with Professor Lichtenstein, that it is so defective that it can seldom be found of any use.
Barrow returned to Britain in 1804 and was appointed Second Secretary to the Admiralty by Viscount Melville, a post which he held for forty years – apart from a short period in 1806–1807 when there was a Whig government in power. Lord Grey took office as Prime Minister in 1830, and Barrow was especially requested to remain in his post, starting the principle that senior civil servants stay in office on change of government and serve in a non-partisan manner. Indeed, it was during his occupancy of the post that it was renamed Permanent Secretary. Barrow enjoyed the esteem and confidence of all the eleven chief lords who successively presided at the Admiralty board during that period, and more especially of King William IV while lord high admiral, who honoured him with tokens of his personal regard.
In his position at the Admiralty, Barrow was a great promoter of Arctic voyages of discovery, including those of John Ross, William Edward Parry, James Clark Ross and John Franklin. The Barrow Strait in the Canadian Arctic as well as Point Barrow and the city of Barrow in Alaska are named after him. He is reputed to have been the initial proposer of Saint Helena as the new place of exile for Napoleon Bonaparte following the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Barrow was a fellow of the Royal Society and received the degree of LL.D from the University of Edinburgh in 1821. A baronetcy was conferred on him by Sir Robert Peel in 1835. He was also a member of the Raleigh Club, a forerunner of the Royal Geographical Society.
Barrow retired from public life in 1845 and devoted himself to writing a history of the modern Arctic voyages of discovery (1846), as well as his autobiography, published in 1847. He died suddenly on 23 November 1848. The Sir John Barrow monument was built in his honour on Hoad Hill overlooking his home town of Ulverston, though locally it is more commonly called Hoad Monument. Mount Barrow and Barrow Island in Australia are believed to have been named for him.

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1806 John Barrow Antique Atlas Travel Book to Vietnam via Brazil & South Africa

1806 John Barrow Antique Atlas Travel Book to Vietnam via Brazil & South Africa

  • Title : A Voyage to Cochinchina, in the years 1792 and 1793. to which is annexed an account of a journey, made in the years 1801 and 1802, to the residence of the chief of the Booshuana Nation, being the remotest point in the interior of Southern Africa
  • Size: 4to (10 1/2in x 8 1/4in)
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
  • Date : 1806
  • Ref #:  61010

Description:
This rare publication of the first English edition of Sir Johns Barrows voyages to Cochin-China, (Vietnam) via Rio de Janeiro, the South African Cape & Batavia, Java in 1792 & 93, was published by Strahan and Preston for T. Cadell and T. Davies, London in 1806. 447 pages with 19 hand coloured plates & 2 hand coloured maps, as called for.

The book has been beautifully rebound in half calf with gilt text to spine & new end papers. Library stamps to the back of each plate & pages TP, 1, 101, 401 & 447. Staining to title page to page 23 & light browning to several pages after, repair to page 311 with browning.
Plates & maps in VG condition in fresh condition and beautiful hand colouring. 447 pages containing 19 hand colored prints, including one folding view of Rio, by T. Medland after Samuel Daniell and W. Alexander, and two folding hand coloured maps, the first a plan of the harbor and town of Rio de Janeiro, the second a Chart of the Cape & Southern Africa.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 11in x 7 1/2in (280mm x 190mm) Plates
Plate size: - 14in x 11in (355mm x 280mm) Fold out plates
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Age toning
Plate area: - Age toning, repair to page 311
Verso: - Age toning

Background:
A Voyage to Cochinchina, in the years 1792 and 1793 first edition of the first illustrated English work on Vietnam. A description of the outward voyage of Lord Macartneys embassy to China. The voyage visited Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Rio de Janeiro; a description of that city and of Brazil in general is given. Touching at Tristan da Cunha, the ship rounded the Cape and eventually reached Cochin China via the city of Batavia on Java. The volume is also of Cook interest, as it describes finding Captain Cooks Resolution transformed into a smuggling whaler under the French flag. The substance of the sketch of Cochinchina is taken from a manuscript memoir drawn up by Captain Barissy, a French naval officer who, having several years commanded a frigate in the service of the King of Cochinchina and being an able and intelligent man, had the means and the opportunity of collecting accurate information .
The African part of the volume - which might perhaps, with more propriety, have formed an appendix to Barrows South African travels - relates to his two missions into the interior in order to reconcile the Kaffirs and Boers and to obtain more accurate topographical knowledge of the colony. He visited most parts of the Cape Colony, including the countries of the Kaffirs, Hottentots and Bushmen. He conducted the first census of Cape Colony, undertook a few amateur geological surveys, and contrived an interview with Shaka, king of the Zulus (Howgego). The son of a Lancashire journeyman tanner, Barrow was initially educated in the local grammar school, subsequently working as as a clerk in a Liverpool iron foundry, as a landsman on a Greenland whaler, and as a mathematics teacher in a Greenwich academy preparing young men for a naval career (ODNB). At this time he gave private tuition to Thomas Staunton, son of Sir George Staunton, to whom, as he later admitted, he was indebted for all the good fortune of his life, which began with his service as comptroller of household to Lord Macartneys embassy. Today, Barrow is perhaps best known for his Mutiny on the Bounty (1831) but, during his lifetime, his accounts of his travels in eastern Asia and southern Africa, published between 1801 and 1807, were better known and more influential. These established new standards for travel writing His interests ranged widely, but the great bulk of his output had a geographical focus, usually with an underlying imperial theme and a belief in progress and the superiority of British civilization Collectively, these activities established his pre-eminence within British geography. The account is superbly illustrated with aquatints of views, types, and natural history specimens, Abbey commending the aquatinting as of excellent quality. Bookplate of Charles Constant de Rebecque to the front pastedown, together with a modern collectors plate. A Swiss, a cousin of Benjamin Consant, Constant de Rebecque acted as an agent for the HEIC, making three trips to China for them, and publishing an account of his travels, Récits de Trois Voyages à la Chine.

Cochinchina is a historical exonym for part or the whole of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, but it was commonly used to refer to the region south of the Gianh River. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Vietnam was divided between the Trịnh lords to the north and the Nguyễn lords to the south. The two domains bordered each other on the Son–Gianh River. The northern section was called Tonkin by Europeans, and the southern part, Đàng Trong, was called Cochinchina by most Europeans and Quinam by the Dutch

Barrow, Sir John 1764 - 1848
Barrow, 1st Baronet, was an English civil servant, geographer, linguist and writer. Barrows legacy has been met with mixed analysis. Some historians regard Barrow as an instrument of imperialism who portrayed Africa as a resource rich land devoid of any human or civilized elements. Nonetheless, other historians consider Barrow to have promoted humanitarianism and rights for South Africans.
Barrow was born the only child of Roger Barrow, a tanner in the village of Dragley Beck, in the parish of Ulverston, Lancashire. He was schooled at Town Bank grammar school, Ulverston, but left at age 13 to found a Sunday school for the poor.
Barrow was employed as superintending clerk of an iron foundry at Liverpool. At only 16, he went on a whaling expedition to Greenland. By his twenties, he was teaching mathematics, in which he had always excelled, at a private school in Greenwich.
Barrow taught mathematics to the son of Sir George Leonard Staunton; through Stauntons interest, he was attached on the first British embassy to China from 1792 to 1794 as comptroller of the household to Lord Macartney. He soon acquired a good knowledge of the Chinese language, on which he subsequently contributed articles to the Quarterly Review; and the account of the embassy published by Sir George Staunton records many of Barrows valuable contributions to literature and science connected with China.
Barrow ceased to be officially connected with Chinese affairs after the return of the embassy in 1794, but he always took much interest in them, and on critical occasions was frequently consulted by the British government.
Some historians attribute the stagnation thesis to Barrow; that China was an extremely civilized nation that was in a process of decay by the time of European contact.
In 1797, Barrow accompanied Lord Macartney as private secretary in his important and delicate mission to settle the government of the newly acquired colony of the Cape of Good Hope. Barrow was entrusted with the task of reconciling the Boer settlers and the native Black population and of reporting on the country in the interior. In the course of the trip, he visited all parts of the colony; when he returned, he was appointed auditor-general of public accounts. He then decided to settle in South Africa, married, and bought a house in 1800 in Cape Town. However, the surrender of the colony at the peace of Amiens (1802) upset this plan.
During his travels through South Africa, Barrow compiled copious notes and sketches of the countryside that he was traversing. The outcome of his journeys was a map which, despite its numerous errors, was the first published modern map of the southern parts of the Cape Colony. Barrows descriptions of South Africa greatly influenced Europeans understanding of South Africa and its peoples. William John Burchell (1781–1863) was particularly scathing: As to the miserable thing called a map, which has been prefixed to Mr. Barrows quarto, I perfectly agree with Professor Lichtenstein, that it is so defective that it can seldom be found of any use.
Barrow returned to Britain in 1804 and was appointed Second Secretary to the Admiralty by Viscount Melville, a post which he held for forty years – apart from a short period in 1806–1807 when there was a Whig government in power. Lord Grey took office as Prime Minister in 1830, and Barrow was especially requested to remain in his post, starting the principle that senior civil servants stay in office on change of government and serve in a non-partisan manner. Indeed, it was during his occupancy of the post that it was renamed Permanent Secretary. Barrow enjoyed the esteem and confidence of all the eleven chief lords who successively presided at the Admiralty board during that period, and more especially of King William IV while lord high admiral, who honoured him with tokens of his personal regard.
In his position at the Admiralty, Barrow was a great promoter of Arctic voyages of discovery, including those of John Ross, William Edward Parry, James Clark Ross and John Franklin. The Barrow Strait in the Canadian Arctic as well as Point Barrow and the city of Barrow in Alaska are named after him. He is reputed to have been the initial proposer of Saint Helena as the new place of exile for Napoleon Bonaparte following the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Barrow was a fellow of the Royal Society and received the degree of LL.D from the University of Edinburgh in 1821. A baronetcy was conferred on him by Sir Robert Peel in 1835. He was also a member of the Raleigh Club, a forerunner of the Royal Geographical Society.
Barrow retired from public life in 1845 and devoted himself to writing a history of the modern Arctic voyages of discovery (1846), as well as his autobiography, published in 1847. He died suddenly on 23 November 1848. The Sir John Barrow monument was built in his honour on Hoad Hill overlooking his home town of Ulverston, though locally it is more commonly called Hoad Monument. Mount Barrow and Barrow Island in Australia are believed to have been named for him.

Please note all items auctioned are genuine, we do not sell reproductions. A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) can be issued on request.

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1665 Nieuhof Antique Print Imperial Palace Peking or the Forbidden City, Beijing

1665 Nieuhof Antique Print Imperial Palace Peking or the Forbidden City, Beijing

  • Title : Platte Grondt van Skeyers Hof in Pekin; Forme de la Cour Imperiale de Peking
  • Ref #:  17055
  • Size: 15in x 12 1/2in (380mm x 310mm)
  • Date : 1665
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This original copper-plate engraved antique print a birds-eye view of the Imperial Palace & extensive gardens in Peking, now Beijing, or the Forbidden City by Johan Nieuhof was published by Jacob van Meurs in the 1665 edition of L’Ambassade de la Compagnie Orientale des Provinces Unies vers l’Empereur de la Chine, ou Grand Cam de Tartarie, faite par les sieurs Pierre de Goyer et Jacob de Keyser illustrée d’une très-exacte description des villes, bourgs, villages, ports de mer et autres lieux plus considérables de la Chine....1665. Title in English: An embassy from the East-India Company (1669).

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 15in x 12 1/2in (380mm x 310mm)
Plate size: - 12 1/2in x 7 1/2in (310mm x 195mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
The Forbidden City is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the 22-hectare Zhongshan Park, the sacrificial Imperial Ancestral Temple, the 69-hectare Beihai Park, and the 23-hectare Jingshan Park.
The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the former Chinese imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor) to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as the home of Chinese emperors and their households and was the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government for over 500 years. Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987.
The complex consists of 980 buildings, encompassing 8,886 rooms and covering 720,000 square metres (72 hectares)/178 acres. The palace exemplifies the opulence of the residences of the Chinese emperor and the traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. It is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Since 2012, the Forbidden City has seen an average of 14 million visitors annually, and received more than 19 million visitors in 2019. In 2018, The Forbidden Citys market value has been estimated at US$70 billion, making it both the worlds most valuable palace and the most valuable piece of real estate anywhere in the world.
Some sources describe it as the largest palace in the world still in existence, but other Chinese imperial residences far exceed it in size, namely the 6.1 km2 (610 ha) Zhongnanhai which lies just west of the Forbidden City, the 2.9 km2 (290 ha) Summer Palace in Haidian District, Beijing, and the 5.6 km2 (560 ha) Chengde Mountain Resort in Chengde, Hebei Province.
The Forbidden City in Beijing is one of the largest and most well-preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. It is a national AAAAA-level tourist attraction in China. It was listed as the first batch of national key cultural relics in 1961 and listed as a world cultural heritage in 1987.

Nieuhof, Johan (1618 – 1672)
Nieuhof was a Dutch traveler who wrote about his journeys to Brazil, China and India. The most famous of these was a trip of 2,400 kilometers from Canton to Peking in 1655-1657, which enabled him to become an authoritative Western writer on China. He wrote An embassy from the East-India Company containing the written account of this journey.
Johan Nieuhof was born in Uelsen, a town in the county of Bentheim, Lower Saxony, sitting just across the Dutch-German border. His father (originally from Zwolle) was mayor of the town, and was later succeeded by one of Johans brothers and brother-in-law. By the grace of Cornelis Jan Witsen, a leading figure within the Dutch West India Company (or WIC), Nieuhof left for Dutch Brazil in 1640 as a reserve officer-candidate. From then on, barring two short family visits in 1658 and 1671, he spent all the rest of his life abroad.
Nieuhof was employed in Brazil to explore the regions between Maranhão and the São Francisco Rivers, made a particular study of the neighborhood of Pernambuco. He left Brazil in 1649, after the Portuguese victory in the Second Battle of Guararapes. Upon his return, Nieuhof joined the service of the Dutch East India Company (or VOC). In service of the VOC he resided several years in Batavia, and then was appointed in 1654 steward of an embassy to the relatively new Qing emperor China under Peter de Goyer and Jacob de Keyser, which aimed to gain trading rights on Chinas southern coast.
He remained in China until 1657. In 1663 he operated as an ambassador in Quilon, after the occupation of the Malabar Coast by Rijckloff van Goens. During this period he visited several chiefs of indigenous tribes in order to secure trade relations with them. Afterwards, he was offered a post on Ceylon where he was stationed between 1663 and 1667. He was imprisoned for seven months because of illegal trade in pearls. Nieuhof was sent to Batavia by Hendrik van Rheede and fired by the Dutch East India Company.
On returning to the Indies from a trip home in 1672, he stopped on the isle of Madagascar. On October 8 1672, Nieuhof traveled inland along with the first mate, in search of the local tribes in order to trade with them, as well as secure water for his crew. Upon hearing several gunshots, the captain sent a second ship towards the island in order to await Nieuhofs return. After three days of waiting, the captain presumed Nieuhof and his company to be murdered and sailed onwards towards Mauritius. On order of the governing council in Amsterdam, a ship was sent from the Cape of Good Hope to retrieve Nieuhof and his fellows, but no trace of them could be found.
In the first half of the 17th century, the VOC tried to break the Portuguese monopoly position on trade to Macau. When they did not succeed, they sent six embassies to Peking between 1655 and 1685. Their aim was to convince the Qing emperor to open up trade relations on the southern coast, in favor of the VOC, although they ultimately failed. Nieuhof was appointed to the position of steward on one of these embassies by Joan Maetsuycker, which traveled from Canton to Peking between 1655 and 1658. They were the second embassy to try and gain the emperors favor, the first was led by Zacharias Wagenaer. Nieuhofs duties as part of the embassy primarily consisted of ceremonial matters as well as securing lodgings. He was, however, specifically appointed to illustrate any and all of the cities, palaces, temples, rivers and other noteworthy buildings in their true to nature form.
On March 17 1656, after months of negotiations and discussions of tributes to be paid to the Chinese emperor and viceroy, the embassy left Canton by barge, to travel towards Peking. The embassy arrived at the emperors court in Peking on July 18 the same year. The hired the jesuit scholar Johann Adam Schall von Bell to be their translator, who warned them of the possible dangers and required ceremonies to approach the emperor. On September 24, the embassy was received by the Shunzhi Emperor. As dictated by their translator, the party performed the traditional kowtow, as failing to do so would most likely result in immediate refusal by the emperor. As a result, the emperor allowed Dutch embassies to visit the court once every eight years, in parties consisting of no more than 100 men. Any trading rights were not discussed nor granted at this point. On October 16 the embassy was asked to leave the city of Peking within two hours. Their return trip took three months; putting the entire length of the embassy at 20 months and 6 days.
At his homecoming in 1658, he had entrusted his notes and annotations to his brother Hendrik, whom Johan thanked when finally (in 1665) Hendrik produced an ample study of China, with many images, text and explanation of the latest events. The work was published by Jacob van Meurs in 1665, titled Het Gezandtschap der Neêrlandtsche Oost-Indische Compagnie, aan den grooten Tartarischen Cham, den tegenwoordigen Keizer van China: Waarin de gedenkwaerdigste Geschiedenissen, die onder het reizen door de Sineesche landtschappen, Quantung, Kiangsi, Nanking, Xantung en Peking, en aan het Keizerlijke Hof te Peking, sedert den jaren 1655 tot 1657 zijn voorgevallen, op het bondigste verhandelt worden. Beneffens een Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Sineesche Steden, Dorpen, Regeering, Weetenschappen, Hantwerken, Zeden, Godsdiensten, Gebouwen, Drachten, Schepen, Bergen, Gewassen, Dieren, et cetera en oorlogen tegen de Tartar : verçiert men over de 150 afbeeltsels, nat leven in Sina getekent. Hendrik dedicated the work to Hendrik Spiegel and Cornelis Jan Witsen (Nicolaes Witsens father), administrators of the East and West India Companies respectively. Translations into French (1665), German (1666), Latin (1668) and English (1669) were also published, each going into at least two editions. More of Nieuhoffs material, on Chinese ships, appeared in Nicolaes Witsens Scheepsbouw (1671).
The reports from these embassies and the reports of the Jesuits formed the only reliable source of information on China available in Western Europe. As mentioned, being the purser of the VOC embassy to Peking, Johan Nieuhof in 1655 had special instructions to observe all farms, towns, palaces, rivers, ... [and other] buildings that he might pass by, drawing them in straight form and figure, as well as remains of the historical victory of the Tartars (Manchus) that brought an end to the reign of the Ming dynasty. The inclusion of approximately 150 illustrations in the book marked the first time that literature on China contained images that were true to nature. In previously published works, belonging to the imaginative fantastic tradition where fact and fiction were hardly discernible, the Chinese were depicted as creatures of fantasy. Nieuhofs illustrations, as opposed to these previous works, depicted the Chinese and their culture as they were observed by the illustrator himself, without fanciful additions.
The 150 illustrations of the Nieuhoffs book were one inspiration for chinoiserie, which became especially popular in the 18th century. Many artists and architects based their designs on the pictures in the book. The original drawings were rediscovered in 1984 in the collection of prince Roland Bonaparte, an anthropologist who collected material about Madagascar, Lapland and the Native Americans.
Publications:
- Johannes Nieuhof (1668), Legatio batavica ad magnum Tartariæ chamum Sungteium, modernum Sinæ imperatorem; Historiarum narratione, quæ legatis in provinciis Quantung, Kiangsi, Nanking, Xantung, Peking, & aula imperatoriâ ab anno 1665 ad annum 1657 obtigerunt ..., Amstelodami: Jacobum Meursium, OCLC 2134985, OL 23411529M

- Het gezantschap der Neêrlandtsche Oost-Indische Compagnie, aan den grooten Tartarischen Cham, den tegenwoordigen keizer van China : waar in de gedenkwaerdighste geschiedenissen, die onder het reizen door de Sineesche landtschappen, Quantung, Kiangsi, Nanking, Xantung en Peking, en aan het keizerlijke hof te Peking, sedert den jare 1655 tot 1657 zijn voorgevallen, op het bondigste verhandelt worden : befeffens een naukeurige Beschryving der Sineesche steden, dorpen, regeering, wetenschappen, hantwerken, zeden, godsdiensten, gebouwen, drachten, schepen, bergen, gewassen, dieren, &c. en oorlogen tegen de Tarters : verçiert men over de 150 afbeeltsels, nat leven in Sina getekent. Amsterdam: Jacob van Meurs, 1665. Title in English: An embassy from the East-India Company (1669).
- Zee- en Lant-Reise door verscheide Gewesten van Oostindien, behelzende veele zeldzaame en wonderlijke voorvallen en geschiedenissen. Beneffens een beschrijving van lantschappen, dieren, gewassen, draghten, zeden en godsdienst der inwoonders: En inzonderheit een wijtloopig verhael der Stad Batavia. Amsterdam: de Weduwe van Jacob van Meurs, 1682. Google books
- Gedenkweerdige Brasiliaense Zee- en Lant-Reise und Zee- en Lant-Reize door verscheide Gewesten van Oostindien. Amsterdam: de Weduwe van Jacob van Meurs, 1682.

$200.00 USD
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1665 Johan Nieuhof Large Antique Print of Chinese Mounted Cavalry, Archery

1665 Johan Nieuhof Large Antique Print of Chinese Mounted Cavalry, Archery

  • Title : Kryghs-Ordre in Het Marseren; L Ordre de la Cavallerie en Marchant
  • Ref #:  17056
  • Size: 15in x 12 1/2in (380mm x 310mm)
  • Date : 1665
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This original copper-plate engraved antique print of Chinese Mounted Cavalry in formation by Johan Nieuhof was published by Jacob van Meurs in the 1665 edition of L’Ambassade de la Compagnie Orientale des Provinces Unies vers l’Empereur de la Chine, ou Grand Cam de Tartarie, faite par les sieurs Pierre de Goyer et Jacob de Keyser illustrée d’une très-exacte description des villes, bourgs, villages, ports de mer et autres lieux plus considérables de la Chine....1665. Title in English: An embassy from the East-India Company (1669).

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 15in x 12 1/2in (380mm x 310mm)
Plate size: - 12 1/2in x 7 1/2in (310mm x 195mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
The vast, immediate success of the book which was published in Johan Nieuhof's name in 1665 in Dutch language was every publisher's dream. In this time and age, his report on his journey to China, compiled of the material he had sent to his brother, was a bestseller! In the 17th century alone, six Dutch editions were published. Within the same year of its release it was translated to French – the very same edition we have here – and shortly after it was also translated to German, Latin and English.
This huge interest in the book by the global public was not by chance! At the time, China was the dream country of every merchant and especially of every investor in Europe. China had the goods European markets were longing for. Firstly there was tea, but also the incredibly modern porcelain and the wonderfully soft silk. In addition, the spices and remedies from the Chinese market were promising great profit!
Since individual people of the 17th century could not finance successful trading companies of this size any longer, ambitious men had cooperated with the government and founded trading companies due to royal privileges. One can imagine a sort of incorporated company whose capital was provided by a market of investors. These resources were used to fit out fleets, establish local strongpoints and pay permanent employees whose work should bring investors great profit on their deposits.
The area called East India at the time was particularly popular for such investments. This wasn't just India and the Spice Islands, but also China and Japan. In 1600 the British founded their East India Company. In 1602 the Dutch East India Company followed, and Johan Nieuhof was allowed to accompany the imperial embassy. But other countries wanted to participate in the trade, too and founded companies: Denmark, Sweden, Portugal – and also France in 1665. Louis XIV had first privileged an East India Company on the initiative of his minister of finance Colbert, which competed for funds in 1665. Therefore Nieuhof's book was just in time!
What made Nieuhof's report especially interesting, were the 150 copper engravings that carried the reader off into the exotic worlds of the Far East. Nieuhof's book thus started the China-trend. There could be no rococo castle without a porcelain cabinet. No bourgeois household without chinoiseries. But Johan Nieuhof did not know which goods were desired by China in exchange. Consequently tea and silk had to be paid with silver. The negative trade balance was troubling to all European governments until the English had the delinquent idea to import opium on a large scale. It was only then that the trade balance turned around. But surely Johan Nieuhof cannot be made responsible for this.

Nieuhof, Johan (1618 – 1672)
Nieuhof was a Dutch traveler who wrote about his journeys to Brazil, China and India. The most famous of these was a trip of 2,400 kilometers from Canton to Peking in 1655-1657, which enabled him to become an authoritative Western writer on China. He wrote An embassy from the East-India Company containing the written account of this journey.
Johan Nieuhof was born in Uelsen, a town in the county of Bentheim, Lower Saxony, sitting just across the Dutch-German border. His father (originally from Zwolle) was mayor of the town, and was later succeeded by one of Johans brothers and brother-in-law. By the grace of Cornelis Jan Witsen, a leading figure within the Dutch West India Company (or WIC), Nieuhof left for Dutch Brazil in 1640 as a reserve officer-candidate. From then on, barring two short family visits in 1658 and 1671, he spent all the rest of his life abroad.
Nieuhof was employed in Brazil to explore the regions between Maranhão and the São Francisco Rivers, made a particular study of the neighborhood of Pernambuco. He left Brazil in 1649, after the Portuguese victory in the Second Battle of Guararapes. Upon his return, Nieuhof joined the service of the Dutch East India Company (or VOC). In service of the VOC he resided several years in Batavia, and then was appointed in 1654 steward of an embassy to the relatively new Qing emperor China under Peter de Goyer and Jacob de Keyser, which aimed to gain trading rights on Chinas southern coast.
He remained in China until 1657. In 1663 he operated as an ambassador in Quilon, after the occupation of the Malabar Coast by Rijckloff van Goens. During this period he visited several chiefs of indigenous tribes in order to secure trade relations with them. Afterwards, he was offered a post on Ceylon where he was stationed between 1663 and 1667. He was imprisoned for seven months because of illegal trade in pearls. Nieuhof was sent to Batavia by Hendrik van Rheede and fired by the Dutch East India Company.
On returning to the Indies from a trip home in 1672, he stopped on the isle of Madagascar. On October 8 1672, Nieuhof traveled inland along with the first mate, in search of the local tribes in order to trade with them, as well as secure water for his crew. Upon hearing several gunshots, the captain sent a second ship towards the island in order to await Nieuhofs return. After three days of waiting, the captain presumed Nieuhof and his company to be murdered and sailed onwards towards Mauritius. On order of the governing council in Amsterdam, a ship was sent from the Cape of Good Hope to retrieve Nieuhof and his fellows, but no trace of them could be found.
In the first half of the 17th century, the VOC tried to break the Portuguese monopoly position on trade to Macau. When they did not succeed, they sent six embassies to Peking between 1655 and 1685. Their aim was to convince the Qing emperor to open up trade relations on the southern coast, in favor of the VOC, although they ultimately failed. Nieuhof was appointed to the position of steward on one of these embassies by Joan Maetsuycker, which traveled from Canton to Peking between 1655 and 1658. They were the second embassy to try and gain the emperors favor, the first was led by Zacharias Wagenaer. Nieuhofs duties as part of the embassy primarily consisted of ceremonial matters as well as securing lodgings. He was, however, specifically appointed to illustrate any and all of the cities, palaces, temples, rivers and other noteworthy buildings in their true to nature form.
On March 17 1656, after months of negotiations and discussions of tributes to be paid to the Chinese emperor and viceroy, the embassy left Canton by barge, to travel towards Peking. The embassy arrived at the emperors court in Peking on July 18 the same year. The hired the jesuit scholar Johann Adam Schall von Bell to be their translator, who warned them of the possible dangers and required ceremonies to approach the emperor. On September 24, the embassy was received by the Shunzhi Emperor. As dictated by their translator, the party performed the traditional kowtow, as failing to do so would most likely result in immediate refusal by the emperor. As a result, the emperor allowed Dutch embassies to visit the court once every eight years, in parties consisting of no more than 100 men. Any trading rights were not discussed nor granted at this point. On October 16 the embassy was asked to leave the city of Peking within two hours. Their return trip took three months; putting the entire length of the embassy at 20 months and 6 days.
At his homecoming in 1658, he had entrusted his notes and annotations to his brother Hendrik, whom Johan thanked when finally (in 1665) Hendrik produced an ample study of China, with many images, text and explanation of the latest events. The work was published by Jacob van Meurs in 1665, titled Het Gezandtschap der Neêrlandtsche Oost-Indische Compagnie, aan den grooten Tartarischen Cham, den tegenwoordigen Keizer van China: Waarin de gedenkwaerdigste Geschiedenissen, die onder het reizen door de Sineesche landtschappen, Quantung, Kiangsi, Nanking, Xantung en Peking, en aan het Keizerlijke Hof te Peking, sedert den jaren 1655 tot 1657 zijn voorgevallen, op het bondigste verhandelt worden. Beneffens een Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Sineesche Steden, Dorpen, Regeering, Weetenschappen, Hantwerken, Zeden, Godsdiensten, Gebouwen, Drachten, Schepen, Bergen, Gewassen, Dieren, et cetera en oorlogen tegen de Tartar : verçiert men over de 150 afbeeltsels, nat leven in Sina getekent. Hendrik dedicated the work to Hendrik Spiegel and Cornelis Jan Witsen (Nicolaes Witsens father), administrators of the East and West India Companies respectively. Translations into French (1665), German (1666), Latin (1668) and English (1669) were also published, each going into at least two editions. More of Nieuhoffs material, on Chinese ships, appeared in Nicolaes Witsens Scheepsbouw (1671).
The reports from these embassies and the reports of the Jesuits formed the only reliable source of information on China available in Western Europe. As mentioned, being the purser of the VOC embassy to Peking, Johan Nieuhof in 1655 had special instructions to observe all farms, towns, palaces, rivers, ... [and other] buildings that he might pass by, drawing them in straight form and figure, as well as remains of the historical victory of the Tartars (Manchus) that brought an end to the reign of the Ming dynasty. The inclusion of approximately 150 illustrations in the book marked the first time that literature on China contained images that were true to nature. In previously published works, belonging to the imaginative fantastic tradition where fact and fiction were hardly discernible, the Chinese were depicted as creatures of fantasy. Nieuhofs illustrations, as opposed to these previous works, depicted the Chinese and their culture as they were observed by the illustrator himself, without fanciful additions.
The 150 illustrations of the Nieuhoffs book were one inspiration for chinoiserie, which became especially popular in the 18th century. Many artists and architects based their designs on the pictures in the book. The original drawings were rediscovered in 1984 in the collection of prince Roland Bonaparte, an anthropologist who collected material about Madagascar, Lapland and the Native Americans.
Publications:
- Johannes Nieuhof (1668), Legatio batavica ad magnum Tartariæ chamum Sungteium, modernum Sinæ imperatorem; Historiarum narratione, quæ legatis in provinciis Quantung, Kiangsi, Nanking, Xantung, Peking, & aula imperatoriâ ab anno 1665 ad annum 1657 obtigerunt ..., Amstelodami: Jacobum Meursium, OCLC 2134985, OL 23411529M

- Het gezantschap der Neêrlandtsche Oost-Indische Compagnie, aan den grooten Tartarischen Cham, den tegenwoordigen keizer van China : waar in de gedenkwaerdighste geschiedenissen, die onder het reizen door de Sineesche landtschappen, Quantung, Kiangsi, Nanking, Xantung en Peking, en aan het keizerlijke hof te Peking, sedert den jare 1655 tot 1657 zijn voorgevallen, op het bondigste verhandelt worden : befeffens een naukeurige Beschryving der Sineesche steden, dorpen, regeering, wetenschappen, hantwerken, zeden, godsdiensten, gebouwen, drachten, schepen, bergen, gewassen, dieren, &c. en oorlogen tegen de Tarters : verçiert men over de 150 afbeeltsels, nat leven in Sina getekent. Amsterdam: Jacob van Meurs, 1665. Title in English: An embassy from the East-India Company (1669).
- Zee- en Lant-Reise door verscheide Gewesten van Oostindien, behelzende veele zeldzaame en wonderlijke voorvallen en geschiedenissen. Beneffens een beschrijving van lantschappen, dieren, gewassen, draghten, zeden en godsdienst der inwoonders: En inzonderheit een wijtloopig verhael der Stad Batavia. Amsterdam: de Weduwe van Jacob van Meurs, 1682. Google books
- Gedenkweerdige Brasiliaense Zee- en Lant-Reise und Zee- en Lant-Reize door verscheide Gewesten van Oostindien. Amsterdam: de Weduwe van Jacob van Meurs, 1682.

$200.00 USD
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1719 H. Chatelain Large Antique Map of North America Canada Great Lakes, Detroit

1719 H. Chatelain Large Antique Map of North America Canada Great Lakes, Detroit

  • Title : Carte du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France, & des Decouvertes qui y ont ete Faites, Dressee sur les observations les plus Nouvelles, & sur divers Memoires tant Manuscrits qu' imprimez
  • Ref #:  17044
  • Size: 23 1/4in x 19in (590mm x 480mm)
  • Date : 1719
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This large original beautifully hand coloured copper plate engraved antique & important early map of The Great Lakes, Canada & the Upper Mid-West - with descriptive French text to the right of the map - was published by Henri Abraham Chatelain in 1719, in his famous Atlas Historique.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 23 1/4in x 19in (590mm x 480mm)
Plate size: - 20 1/2in x 16 1/2in (525mm x 415mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
Nice example of Chatelain's edition of De L'Isle's seminal map of Canada, the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest, first issued in 1703.
Chatelain's map of Canada & the Great Lakes was the first printed map to locate Detroit, first issued only 2 years after the founding of the Village by Cadillac. De L'Isle studied at the French Maritime Ministry from 1700 to 1703, during which time he took extensive notes on the work of the Jesuit Missionaries, including Franquelin, Jolliet and others. Karpinksi note that the fruits of De L'Isle's substantial efforts are born out by the great improvements in the mapping of the 5 Great Lakes and other parts of the map.
The map is one of the most important maps of Canada printed during its time, and was included in Chatelain's Atlas Historique.  Numerous trading posts and missions in New France and the major towns of the adjacent British colonies are shown. The area around Hudson's Bay is inhabited by native tribes referred to as the "Christinaux or Kilistinons," while Labrador is home to the "Eskimaux."
The map features a number of notes specifically referring to the names of explorers and the dates in which they discovered certain places, such as the reference to 'Nouveau Danemarc', discovered by the Danish explorer Jan Munk in 1619. The depiction of the upper Mississippi and Ohio basins is also quite detailed, noting the French fort of 'St. Louis' or 'Crevecouer' near the present-day site of Peoria, Illinois. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the map is its portrayal of the "Riviere Longue," one of the most sensational and enduring cartographic misconceptions ever devised. This mythical river was reported to flow from the 'Pays des Gnacsitares' in the far west, promising the best route through the interior of the continent, supposedly placing one within close reach of the Pacific Ocean. It is a product of the imagination of the Baron Lahontan, a French adventurer, whose best-selling travel narrative Nouveaux voyages dans l'Amérique septentrionale (1703) convinced many of the world's greatest intellects of the existence of this mythical waterway. The text, 'Remarque Historique' that fills the northwestern part of the map describes the history of New France from the days of Jacques Cartier to contemporary times.

$1,050.00 USD
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