Products

• Title : Chef D Apia (Ise Opoulou): Jeune Fille D Apia (Ile Opoulou): Femme De Lefouga (Iles Hapai)
• Size:  22in x 14in (560mm x 370mm)
• Condition: (A+) Fine Good Condition
• Date : 1842
• Ref #:  31754

Description:
This magnificent, large original antique lithograph print of Pea the High Chief of the village of Apia on the Island of Upolu, Samoa along with and his daughter & wife visited in September 1838 by Dumont D Urville, by Ernest Goupil, the senior artist/draftsman aboard the Astrolabe, during D Urvilles second voyage to the South Seas between 1837 - 1840, was engraved by Adolphe Jean-Baptiste Bayotiand was published in the 1842 1st edition of Dumont d Urvilles Voyage au Pole Sud et dans l Océanie sur les corvettes l Astrolabe et la Zélée : Exécuté par ordre du roi pendant les années 1837-1838-1839-1840.
These large magnificent lithographs from the 1st edition are extremely hard to find, most only found in museums or in private hands, and due to the artistry are a must for any collection.

Ernest Goupil was a French painter, draftsman and watercolourist He is known for the illustrations made as official painter for Dumont D Urvilles 2nd Voyage to the South Seas. In Voyage to the South Pole and in Oceania on corvettes l\'Astrobale and Zélée, executed by order of the king during the years 1837-1838-1839-1840, his drawings are transposed on stone, most notably by Emile Lassalle , Pharamond Blanchard and Adolphe Jean-Baptiste Bayot . Dumont d\'Urville relates: On the Zélée , Mr. Goupil fills his cartons with precious paintings, and on the Astrolabe , the young surgeon Le Breton, who has a remarkable talent in this genre, also performs at my asks for charming drawings.
Some drawings were sent to the Minister of the Navy and were shown to the King, who wanted to see them transposed into painting by the marine painter Théodore Gudin , but Goupil would not have given his consent.
In August 1839 in Samarang Java , the crew is struck by a violent epidemic, and after two months of suffering, Ernest Goupil succumbs and died on January 1 , 1840 ijn Hobart-town where he was buried with full military honours.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 22in x 14in (560mm x 370mm)
Plate size: - 22in x 14in (560mm x 370mm)
Margins: - Min 2in (50mm)

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

Background: 
Apia is the capital and the largest city of Samoa. From 1900 to 1919, it was the capital of German Samoa. The city is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa\'s second largest island. Apia is the only city in Samoa and falls within the political district (itūmālō) of Tuamasaga.
Apia was originally a small village from which the country\'s capital took its name. Apia village still exists within the larger modern capital of Apia which has grown into a sprawling urban area with many villages. Like every other settlement in the country, Apia village has its own matai chiefly leaders and fa\'alupega (genealogy and customary greetings) according to fa a Samoa.
The modern capital Apia was founded in the 1850s and has been the official capital of Samoa since 1959.
The harbor was also the site of an infamous 15 March 1889 naval standoff in which seven ships from Germany, the US, and Britain refused to leave harbor while a typhoon was clearly approaching, lest the first moved would lose face. All the ships were sunk, except the British cruiser Calliope, which barely managed to leave port at 1 mile per hour and ride out the storm. Nearly 200 American and German lives were lost, as well as six ships sunk or damaged beyond repair.

• Title: La Ville De Cayenne...1753
• Date: 1753
• Condition : (A+) Fine Condition
• Ref: 25648
• Size: 15in x 11in (390mm x 275mm)

Description: 
This beautifully engraved original antique map a plan of the city of Cayenne capital of French Guyana, South America was engraved by Jacques Nicolas Bellin in 1753 - the date is engraved in the title cartouche - and was published by Jacques Nicolas Bellin for Antoine-François Prevosts 20 volume edition of L`Histoire Generale des Voyages published by Pierre de Hondt, The Hague in 1747. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - white
Age of map color: -  Early
Colors used: -  Yellow, Green, red
General color appearance: -  Authentic
Paper size: - 15in x 11in (390mm x 275mm)
Plate size: - 11 1/2in x 9 1/2in (290mm x 245mm)
Margins: - min. 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued
Verso: - None

Condition : (A+) Fine Condition

• Title: Villes De La Province De Chensi (Si-ngan-fu Capitale / Tchouang Lan ou Chwang lan)
• Date: 1755
• Condition : (A+) Fine Condition
• Ref: 25726
• Size: 15in x 10in (380mm x 255mm) 

Description:
This fine, original copper-plate engraved antique map a birds-eye view of the walled city of Xi an & the historical region of the Guanzhong Plain in the Shaanxi Province of Northern China by Jakob van Schley in 1755 was published in Antoine François Prevosts 15 volumes of Histoire Generale des Voyageswritten by Prevost & other authors between 1746-1790.

Shaanxi is a province of the People\'s Republic of China. Officially part of the Northwest China region.
Shaanxi is considered one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. Thirteen feudal dynasties established their capitals in the province during a span of more than 1,100 years, from the Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty.
The province\'s principal city and current capital, Xi\'an, is one of the four great ancient capitals of China and is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road, which leads to Europe, the Arabian Peninsula and Africa.
Under the Han Dynasty, the Northern Silk Road was expanded to advance exploration and military purposes to the west. This Northern Silk Road is the northernmost of the Silk Roads and is about 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) in length. It connected the ancient Chinese capital of Xi an to the west over the Wushao Ling Pass to Wuwei and emerging in Kashgar before linking to ancient Parthia.
Under the Ming dynasty, Shaanxi was incorporated into Gansu but was again separated in the Qing dynasty.
One of the most devastating earthquakes in history occurred near Hua Shan, in south-eastern part of Shaanxi Province on January 23, 1556, killing an estimated 830,000 people (see 1556 Shaanxi earthquake).

Xi an is the capital of Shaanxi province in China. It is a sub-provincial city located in the center of the Guanzhong Plain in Northwestern China. One of the oldest cities in China, Xi\'an is the oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals, having held the position under several of the most important dynasties in Chinese history, including Western Zhou, Qin, Western Han, Sui, and Tang. Xi\'an is the starting point of the Silk Road and home to the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

Guanzhong Plain, is a historical region of China corresponding to the lower valley of the Wei River. It is called Guanzhong or \'within the passes\', as opposed to \'Guandong\' or \'east of the pass\', i.e., the North China Plain. The North China Plain is bordered on the west by mountains. The Yellow River cuts through the mountains at the Hangu Pass or Tongguan separating Guanzhong from Guandong.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Yellow, green, orange
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 15in x 10in (380mm x 255mm)
Plate size: - 11in x 9in (280mm x 230mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

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

Background: 
One of Antoine Francois Prevosts monumental undertakings was his history of exploration & discovery in 15 volumes titledHistoire Générale des Voyages written between 1746-1759 and was extended to 20 volumes after his death by various authors.
The 20 volumes cover the early explorations & discoveries on 3 continents: Africa (v. 1-5), Asia (v. 5-11), and America (v. 12-15) with material on the finding of the French, English, Dutch, and Portugese.
A number of notable cartographers and engravers contributed to the copper plate maps and views to the 20 volumes including Nicolas Bellin, Jan Schley, Chedel, Franc Aveline, Fessard, and many others.
The African volumes cover primarily coastal countries of West, Southern, and Eastern Africa, plus the Congo, Madagascar, Arabia and the Persian Gulf areas.
The Asian volumes cover China, Korea, Tibet, Japan, Philippines, and countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
Volume 11 includes Australia and Antarctica.
Volumes 12-15 cover voyages and discoveries in America, including the East Indies, South, Central and North America.
Volumes 16-20 include supplement volumes & tables along with continuation of voyages and discoveries in Russia, Northern Europe, America, Asia & Australia.

Jakob van der Schley aka Jakob van Schley (1715 - 1779) was a Dutch draughtsman and engraver. He studied under Bernard Picart (1673-1733) whose style he subsequently copied. His main interests were engraving portraits and producing illustrations for \\\"La Vie de Marianne\\\" by Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (1688-1763) published in The Hague between 1735 and 1747.
He also engraved the frontispieces for a 15-volume edition of the complete works of Pierre de Brantôme (1540-1614), \\\"Oeuvres du seigneur de Brantôme\\\", published in The Hague in 1740.
He is also responsible for most of the plates in the Hague edition of Prévosts Histoire générale des voyages. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

• Title : Insects..Published as the act directs Nov 1st 1798 by GG & J Robinson Parnastor Row
• Size: 16 1/2in x 10in (420mm x 255mm)
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
• Date : 1798
• Ref #:  31737

Description:
This large original copper plate engraved antique print of various insects, seeds & plants collected during the voyages of Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de la Pérouse between 1785 to 1788 was engraved in 1798 - dated - and was published in the 1st English edition of the Atlas du voyage de La Perouse G.G & J. Robinson, London in 1799.
La Perouse set sail from France in 1785 to continue the discoveries of Captain Cook. He was shipwrecked in 1788 but his narrative, maps, and views survived and were first published in 1797.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 16 1/2in x 10in (420mm x 255mm)
Plate size: - 16 1/2in x 10in (420mm x 255mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning in margins
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
In 1783 the French government resolved to send an expedition to the Pacific to complete Captain James Cook\'s unfinished work, and in particular to explore the passages in the Bering Sea, which had been a mystery to Europeans since the sixteenth century. King Louis XVI himself took a hand in drafting the plan and itinerary, a copy of which is in the Municipal Library at Rouen, France, and when La Pérouse was selected to lead the fleet gave him an audience before he sailed. In command of two ships, La Boussole and L Astrolabe (Commandant de Langle), he left Brest on 1 August 1785 making for Brazil. Doubling Cape Horn he refitted in Chile, then sailed to the Sandwich Islands and thence to Alaska, where he turned south exploring and surveying the coast as far as California. After a short refit at Monterey, he sailed across the Pacific, discovered uncharted islands, and visited Macao and Manila. After six weeks reprovisioning and refreshing he left on 10 April 1787 to survey the coasts and territories north of Korea, which had been described and commented on by Christian missionaries. He sailed up the Gulf of Tartary, naming several points on both its shores and learned that Sakhalin was an island. In September he put in to Kamchatka to replenish his supplies. From there he dispatched an officer, Lesseps, overland to Paris with accounts of his discoveries, while he turned south making for New Holland. In December, at Tutuila, Samoa, which Bougainville had called the Navigator Islands when he explored them in 1768, natives suddenly attacked a party from L\'Astrolabe seeking water and killed de Langle and eleven others. La Pérouse left without taking reprisals and sailed through the Pacific Islands to Norfolk Island and to Botany Bay. He was sighted off the coast there on 24 January 1788 but bad weather prevented his entering the bay for two days. By then Governor Arthur Phillip had sailed to Port Jackson, but John Hunter had remained with the Sirius and the transports, and assisted La Pérouse to anchor. He established a camp on the northern shore, now called after him, and maintained good relations with the English during his six-week stay. He sailed on 10 March and was not heard of again. His disappearance led the French government in 1791 to equip another expedition under Bruny d Entrecasteaux to look for him, but the search was fruitless.

• Title : Atlas de Tavernier...Chez M.Me Lepetit...1817
• Ref #:  91592
• Size: 8vo
• Date : 1817
• Condition: (A) Very Good Condition

Description:
This fine original antique of the travels from Turkey, Persia, Central Asia, Vietnam of Jean Baptist Tavernier's was translated from the English by M Henry & M Breton and published by V Lepetit. Paris in 1817 - dated.
This atlas contains 22 copper-plate engraved prints, as listed below.
The atlas covers have been removed with front title page partially detached. Pages are generally clean with light aging to borders, Print V detached, light toning to pages, overall VG, 8vo, each page size is 7in x 5in (180mm x 125mm)

1. J B Tavernier
   2. Vue de Constantinople
   3. Point de Serail a Constantionople
   4. Le Trois Eglises
   5. Ervan
   6. Caravanserail de Cachen
   7. Village Camouk ou Circassien
   8. Mosquee Persane
   9. Pont d' Ispahan
   10. Costumes Persan
   11. Femmes Persans
   12. Bas-reliefs de Persepolis
   13. Diamonds
   13 (repeat). Animal qui produit le Musc
   14. Serpent
   15. Diverses Monaies Asie
   16. Poignard Indien
   17. Marche du Roi de Tonquin lorsqu il va a laguerre
   18. Costumes Tonquinois
   19. Spectacle Tonquinois
   20.
   21. Pompe funebre du Roi de Tonquin
   22. Convoi de provisions a l enterrement du Roi de Tonquin

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605 – 1689) was a 17th-century French gem merchant and traveller. Tavernier, a private individual and merchant travelling at his own expense, covered, by his own account, 60,000 leagues in making six voyages to Persia and India between the years 1630 and 1668. In 1675, Tavernier, at the behest of his patron Louis XIV, published Les Six Voyages de Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (Six Voyages, 1676).
Tavernier was born in Paris of a French or Flemish Huguenot family that had emigrated to Antwerp, to escape persecution, and which subsequently returned to Paris after the publication of the Edict of Nantes, which promised protection for French Protestants. Both his father Gabriel and his uncle Melchior were cartographers. Though it is clear from the accuracy of his drawings that Tavernier received some instruction in the art of cartography/engraving, he was possessed of a wanderlust. While still a teenager, he traveled extensively through Europe and achieved a working knowledge of its major languages.
Tavernier is best known for his 1666 discovery/purchase of the 116-carat Tavernier Blue diamond that he subsequently sold to Louis XIV of France in 1668 for 120,000 livres, the equivalent of 172,000 ounces of pure gold, and a letter of ennoblement. (Five years later, Louis had his court jeweler Jean Pitau recut the stone into the 68 carat French Blue and had it set as a hatpin. The gem was reset by his great-grandson Louis XV in The Medal of The Order of the Golden Fleece, stolen in 1792, and was recut and re-emerged in London 30 years later as the Hope Diamond).
In 1669, Tavernier purchased for 60,000 livres the Seigneury of Aubonne, located in the Duchy of Savoy near the city of Geneva, and became Baron of Aubonne.
Tavernier's writings show that he was a keen observer, as well as a remarkable cultural anthropologist. His Six Voyages became a best seller and was translated into German, Dutch, Italian, and English during his lifetime. The work is frequently quoted by modern scholars writing about the period. (Ref Tooley M&B)

General Description:
 Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy, stable canvas backed
 Paper color: - off white
 Age of map color: - 
 Colors used: - 
 General color appearance: - 
 Atlas size: - 8vo
 
 Imperfections:
 Margins: - Age toning
 Plate area: - Plate V detached, age toning
 Verso: - Age toning

• Title : Published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
• Size: 16in x 14in (410mm x 355m)
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
• Date : 1840
• Ref #:  11-0984

Description:
This hand coloured original steel-plate engraved antique Gnomonic Map of eastern Australia, New Zealand & The South Pacific was engraved by J & C Walker, in 1840 and was published in the Chapman & Hall edition of the Society For the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) Atlas.

A gnomonic map projection displays all great circles as straight lines, resulting in any line segment on a gnomonic map showing a geodesic, the shortest route between the segment\'s two endpoints. This is achieved by casting surface points of the sphere onto a tangent plane, each landing where a ray from the center of the sphere passes through the point on the surface and then on to the plane. No distortion occurs at the tangent point, but distortion increases rapidly away from it. Less than half of the sphere can be projected onto a finite map. Consequently a rectilinear photographic lens cannot image more than 180 degrees.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, pink, green, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 16in x 14in (410mm x 355m)
Plate size: - 16in x 14in (410mm x 355m)
Margins: - Min 1/4in (5mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
The SDUK produced two landmark volumes of cartography in the first half of the 19th century. The first volume concentrated on areas of the old world, Europe, Africa, Great Britain etc. The second volume contained maps of the new world, America, South Asia, including US state maps, colonies of Australia, South Africa, South America etc. Also included were some of the finest engraved town and city plans published at that time.
The SDUK was published in its entirety or in part by many publishers including Baldwin and Cradock 1829-32, Chapman & Hall in 1844, Charles Knight & co. 1846 – 1852. G. Cox published the SDUK between 1852-3, Stanford 1857-70 and later revised edition were also published after Stanford. (Ref: Tooley, M&B)

• Title : Gerardi Mercatoris - Atlas Europae
• Date : 2000
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
• Ref:  Merc1
• Size: Folio

Description: 
Gerardi Mercatoris - Atlas Europae - In 1967, an anonymous buyer purchased a large, tattered book of maps in a second-hand bookshop in Belgium. He had unknowingly rediscovered a priceless and long-lost early atlas produced 400 years earlier by none other than Gerardus Mercator, the German mapmaker, whose cylindrical projection of the world revolutionized long-distance navigation, and who pioneered the practice of cutting wall maps into book pages and binding them. Mercator, in fact, coined the term "atlas" for such a book, and probably produced this one for a tour of Europe undertaken by the young Crown Prince of Cleves. His original maps are magnificently presented here, unbound in a foil-stamped, slipcased folio of 17 superb reproductions. Labeled in Latin, each map folds out flat to 21½" by 16", suitable for framing, and is printed in full color to reveal the master mapmaker's green and brown hills, sandy coastlines, and red cities and towns. The 17 replica maps are accompanied by an in-depth companion book, featuring essays by an international team of map scholars. This volume relates the historical significance of Mercator's atlas and how it influenced the politics and science of the day. It also examines the work of later cartographers, in more than 100 original-color illustrations. A must-have for collectors, this elegant edition combines the high art of antiquarian maps with exceptional scholarly analysis.

Published by Walking Tree Press, 2000. Softcover book and 17 loose maps in clothbound folio cover with cardboard slipcase. Approximate dimensions: 11 x 16 1/2 in. 94 pages

• Title : Isles of Gold - Antique Maps of Japan
• Date : 1992
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
• Ref:  Hugh1
• Size: Folio

Description: 
Isles of Gold - Antique Maps of Japan is a selection of over 90 of the most attractive, remarkable, and historically significant of these European and Japanese maps of Japan. The text by Hugh Cortazzi tells the fascinating story of the encounter between the west and Japan through the gradual process of mapping the island empire. Far-ranging Portuguese explorers, Jesuit Fathers, Dutch merchants and English sea-captains, samurai and shoguns populate this account, which is surprisingly rich in drama. Especially enlightening is the authors emphasis on mutual influences, borrowings and eventual co-operation between European and Japanese map-makers, often in opposition to the Japanese authorities, who were set on sealing off their land from the prying eyes of outsiders.

Weatherhill, New York and Tokyo 1992 

• Title : Japan: A Cartographic Vision
• Date : 1994
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
• Ref:  Lutz1
• Size: Folio

Description: 
Japan: A Cartographic Vision is a celebration, in words and pictures, of the spectacular and colourful maps of Japan produced by Europeans. It explores the changing shape of Japan as conceived by Western explores and cartographers, from the crude and fanciful depictions of the early sixteenth century to the first accurate maps published in the mid-nineteenth century. Prestel-Verlag, Munich, New York, 1994

• Title: Munster Cosmographia
• Date: 1988
• Condition : (A+) Fine Condition
• Ref: Cosmo1
• Size:  Folio

Description: 
Two volume 1988 reprint of the 1628 edition of Sebastian Munster's Cosmographia Basel, Beyden Henripetrinischen. Until 1578, the editions of the Cosmographia were published by Munster's stepson, Heinrich Petri (1508 - 1579). Thereafter they were published by the latters son, Sebastian Petri.

• Title : The South East In Early Maps
• Date : 1998
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
• Ref:  Cumm1
• Size: Folio

Description: 

A study of the historical cartography of the southeast region of the North American continent before the American Revolution. With an annotated checklilst of printed and manuscript regional and local maps of Southeastern North America and a supplement. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998. Fine/Fine. Book and dust-jacket in mint condition. 71 plates.

• Title : Shinano no Kuni Zenzu (Complete map of Shinano no Kuni - Shinano Province: Nagano Prefecture 信濃国 
• Size:  78in x 38in (2.0m x 975mm)
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
• Date : Tokugawa Period 徳川幕府
• Ref #:  91208

Description:
A very large, unique & original wood-block engraved antique map of the old Shinano Province (信濃国 Shinano no kuni) today the Nagano Prefecture (長野県 Nagano-ken) Japan.
This map is incredibly rare, within a limit of 100 printed, in the mid to late Tokugawa Period of Japan (1600 and 1868). Over 2m in length, folded, made up of joined sheets, each measuring approx 41cm x 31cm (16in x 12in) printed on traditional Japanese Washi paper. Hand coloured in outline.

Accompanying this map is earlier typed research on the map, noting the level of incredible and specific detail of the map. To quote
........Province Sagami- On this map, little has been skipped as to the locations of villages, places of historical interest, etc. so that travellers/toursits might find a suitable guide, to be slipped in thier pocket. Takashibe Mitsuo.....
......That Odawara is indicated with somewhat larger characters is interesting as to show its significanc held in those days....
.....Hakone One of the strongest military posts protecting Kamakura against kioto forces.....
......On the map stands the name of Yeddo, and not Tokyo, testifying perhaps to the date of the publication to be put in the latter years of the Tokugawa regime (1603-1867).....

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - White
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Red
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 78in x 38in (2.0m x 975mm)
Plate size: - 78in x 38in (2.0m x 975mm)
Margins: - Min 1/4in (5mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued
Verso: - None

Background: 
Shinano Province (信濃国 Shinano no kuni) or Shinshū (信州) is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture.
In 713, the road that traverses Mino and Shinano provinces was widened to accommodate increasing numbers of travelers through the Kiso District of modern Nagano Prefecture.
In the Sengoku period, Shinano Province was often split among fiefs and castle towns developed, including Komoro, Ina, and Ueda. Shinano was one of the major centers of Takeda Shingen\'s power during his wars with Uesugi Kenshin and others.
Suwa taisha was designated as the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) for the province.
In 1871, during the Meiji period, with the abolition of the han system and the establishment of prefectures (Haihan Chiken) after the Meiji Restoration, Shinano Province was administratively separated in 1871 into Nagano and Chikuma prefectures. These two tentative governmental and territorial units were reconfigured together again in 1876. This became the modern prefecture of Nagano, which remains substantially unchanged from that time.

Nagano Prefecture (長野県 Nagano-ken) is a prefecture located in the Chūbu region of Japan. Nagano has impressive highland areas, including most of the Kita-Alps, Chūō-Alps, and Minami-Alps, which extend into the neighbouring prefectures. Due to the abundance of mountain ranges in this area, the land available for inhabitance is relatively limited. In addition to its natural scenic beauty and rich history.

The Tokugawa Shogunate, also known as the Tokugawa Bakufu (徳川幕府) and the Edo Bakufu (江戸幕府) was the last feudal Japanese military government, which existed between 1600 and 1868. The head of government was the shōgun and each was a member of the Tokugawa clan. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle and the years of the shogunate became known as the Edo period. This time is also called the Tokugawa period or pre-modern (Kinsei (近世)).
Following the Sengoku period (warring states period), the central government had been largely re-established by Oda Nobunaga during the Azuchi–Momoyama period. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, central authority fell to Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Society in the Tokugawa period, unlike in previous shogunates, was supposedly based on the strict class hierarchy originally established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The daimyō (lords) were at the top, followed by the warrior-caste of samurai, with the farmers, artisans, and traders ranking below. In some parts of the country, particularly smaller regions, daimyō and samurai were more or less identical, since daimyō might be trained as samurai, and samurai might act as local rulers. Otherwise, the largely inflexible nature of this social stratification system unleashed disruptive forces over time. Taxes on the peasantry were set at fixed amounts that did not account for inflation or other changes in monetary value. As a result, the tax revenues collected by the samurai landowners were worth less and less over time. This often led to numerous confrontations between noble but impoverished samurai and well-to-do peasants, ranging from simple local disturbances to much larger rebellions. None, however, proved compelling enough to seriously challenge the established order until the arrival of foreign powers.

Japanese Cartography
The earliest known term used for maps in Japan is believed to be kata (形, roughly form), which was probably in use until roughly the 8th century. During the Nara period, the term zu(図) came into use, but the term most widely used and associated with maps in pre-modern Japan is ezu (絵図, roughly “picture diagram”). As the term implies, ezu were not necessarily geographically accurate depictions of physical landscape, as is generally associated with maps in modern times, but pictorial images, often including spiritual landscape in addition to physical geography. Ezu often focused on the conveyance of relative information as opposed to adherence to visible contour. For example, an ezu of a temple may include surrounding scenery and clouds to give an impression of nature, human figures to give a sense of how the depicted space is used, and a scale in which more important buildings may appear bigger than less important ones, regardless of actual physical size.
In the late 18th century, translators in Nagasaki translated the Dutch word (land)kaart into Japanese as chizu (地図): today the generally accepted Japanese word for a map.
From 1800 (Kansei 12) through 1821 (Bunsei 4), Ino Tadataka led a government-sponsored topographic surveying and map-making project. This is considered the first modern geographer\\\'s survey of Japan;[1] and the map based on this survey became widely known as the Ino-zu. Later, the Meiji government officially began using the Japanese term chizu in the education system, solidifying the place of the term chizu for \\\"map\\\" in Japanese.
Generally speaking, traditional Japanese maps were quite diverse in style, depiction, and purpose, and were often oriented towards pragmatic use. It was less common for maps to serve literary or decorative purposes as they might in the West, instead being used for purposes such as the differentiation of rice fields on a feudal manor, or orientation within a temple complex. An example might be an Edo era pilgrimage map depicting the route and location of lodges on the road between Kyoto and Edo, including images of people on the road, with distances between stops differentiated not by relative distance, but by numerical markings, as scale as it is recognized in the West today was not generally used. This compression and expansion of space as necessary to emphasize certain qualities of the depicted area is an important characteristic of traditional Japanese maps, as is the regular inclusion of text, as text and image were not separated in Japan nearly to the same degree as in the West. Perspective on traditional Japanese maps can also be confusing to the modern Western viewer, as maps were often designed to be viewed from multiple points of view simultaneously, since maps were often viewed on the floor while the viewers sat around the map in a circle. Accordingly, many maps do not have a unified orientation scheme (such as North as up), with labels sometimes appearing skewed to each other.
Much of the fundamental concepts of space as depicted in Japanese maps can be traced to Chinese geomancy and Buddhist cosmologies, which came to Japan in the 7th and 8th centuries. Buddhist cosmologies depict the world as it was thought to exist within the appropriate religious framework, often including mythical sites such as the navel of the world[citation needed] and lands beyond the sea inhabited by monsters. In this sense, world maps based on Buddhist cosmology often bear little resemblance to the \\\"real world\\\", though many have at least approximately accurate depictions of Japan, Korea, China, and India. Chinese geomancy brought orientation and a regular grid system, as is evidenced in the street plan of Kyoto, which is based on the plan of the ancient Chinese capital of Chang\\\'an. North-South orientation, as in China, is thought to have been evident in the plan of the ancient capital (672–686 AD) of Naniwa (modern Osaka) as well. Hence, although many traditional Japanese maps are characterized by the malleability of space and lack of importance of accurate depiction of physical landscape, direction, distance, and relative orientation were quite important.
Many early Japanese maps were not accurate according to Western standards. Partly, this was the result of Japan being a closed society for many years. They had a long-lasting indifference to exploration as well. And in the feudal society, it was forbidden for ordinary Japanese citizens to travel. \\\"In fact, the Japanese government in Edo (Tokyo), had no interest in accurate map making because maps could be used by enemies to gain military advantage.\\\" Distorting and falsifying maps was known during World War II. Indeed, there was some discussion that captured Japanese maps had been deliberately falsified to confuse the Allied troops. The Army Map Service put out an announcement toward the end of the war that most of the Japanese maps, although sometimes outdated, were truthful and could be used. “In general, native maps of Japan are reliable. Prior to the outbreak of the war, it was alleged that the Japanese falsified certain sheets which they later allowed to fall into our hands. Spot checks against aerial photography have revealed no evidence to substantiate this claim. However, on some of these maps, pertinent military areas were left entirely blank. The US has a basic 1:50,000 coverage for practically all of Japan and 1:25,000 coverage for about a quarter of Japan. These maps, however, do not show the major transformation of man-made features which have taken place in Japan since 1941. Because of this, native Japanese maps are obsolete and their basic reliability is decreased. It is highly important, therefore, that a large-scale map material or trig lists captured from the Japanese be transmitted promptly to the Chief of Engineers in Washington, DC. This is essential also because we possess geographic coordinates for only about a 10th of the estimated 40,000 geodetic stations established in Japan
The oldest known map in Japan is a topographical drawing discovered on a stone wall inside a tomb in the city of Kurayoshi, in Tottori Prefecture, dated to the 6th century AD. Depicting a landscape of houses, bridges, and roads, it is thought to have been made not for practical navigational purposes, but rather as a kind of celestial cartography given to the dead to maintain a connection with the world of the living and allow them to orient themselves when moving on to the other world. Similar maps have been found in other kofun burial tombs as well. There is also evidence that at least rudimentary surveying tools were already in use in this era. One of the oldest written references to maps in a Japanese source is found in the Kojiki, the oldest (albeit largely mythological) history of Japan, in which land records are mentioned. The other major ancient history, the Nihon Shoki of 720 AD, describes a map of the ancient city of Naniwa (modern Osaka). The first map of provincial surveys is thought to be in 738, as described in the Shoku Nihongi. The earliest extant maps in Japan date to the 8th century, and depict the ownership of square rice field plots, oriented to the four cardinal directions. Shinto shrines held maps that they used for agrarian reform, differentiation of property, and land holdings. The system by which these maps were measured was called jōri, measured in units called tan and tsubo.
The Imperial Court of the Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇, 597?–654) put the Handen sei (班田制, lit. ancient land system) into execution in 646 (Taika 2) and asked each province to submit maps of their land holdings, known as denzu (田図, roughly, \\\"picture map of rice fields\\\"). This was considered the first attempt in Japan to draw accurate (as opposed to representational) landscape in picture maps.
During the Shōmu reign (聖武天皇, 701-756), maps known as Gyōki-zu (行基図), named for the high priest Gyōki (高僧, 668–749), were developed. Gyōki himself served as a civil engineer, although there are no explicitly known direct connections between himself and maps per se. The connection between his name and the term Gyōki-zu is thought to be derived from his authority as a priest and perceived connections between maps and geomantic rites to drive away evil spirits. The term Gyōki-zu was widespread and used for maps which illustrated the routes from the Imperial capital to each province in Japan. These maps covered a broader area, and include a much larger portion of what is now known as Japan, giving an idea of the extent of known territory at the time. Maps from these early surveys (conducted in 646, 738, and 796), show the northeasternly extent of Japan to be near the island of Sado, the westerly extent as Kyūshū and the southerly extent as the tip of Shikoku, indicating a relative relationship of orientation, but lack of knowledge of the true cardinal directions, as Kyūshū stretches much further south than Shikoku, and Sado is closer to north than northeast. More important was relative position, especially in terms of the relationship between the capital in Yamashiro Province (modern Nara Prefecture), and as long as the maps accurately depicted this relationship, they were considered useful. The style and orientation of the Gyōki-zu is much in line with the general overview of Japanese maps as described above, and it was this style that formed the dominant framework in Japanese cartography until the late medieval and Edo periods.
\\\"The earliest Japanese maps, attributed to a Buddhist priest called Gyōki Bosatsu (668–749), shows a curious affinity with modern notice boards in public parks. A scheme of outline loops showing land ownership and boundaries, with south generally at the top, characterized this form of mapmaking, a response to the government\\\'s need for feudal information. Examples of such estate surveys surviving from the Nara period in the eighth century (named after the ancient Japanese capital city). They are legible and informative, but unrelated to other aspects of accuracy. Although none of Gogyi\\\'s own maps survive today, cadastral maps in his style still exist in the Shosoin, an imperial archive from that time, and are shown occasionally in the city of Nara. The Gyogi style represented loyalty to a valid tradition. These schematic loops of information, rather than realistic shapes, continued well into the nineteenth century, as did the complex Buddhist world maps, which were also unrelated to knowledge of the world\\\'s shapes of land and sea, but rather, maps of a spiritual landscape.\\\"
During the period of Handen sei, major Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, and loyal families bought fields and expand their shōen (荘園, lit. manors). Following the manner of denzu, they draw maps of their shōen. The oldest known shōen map is called Sanukikoku yamadagun gufuku jiryo denzu (讃岐国山田郡弘福寺領田図). These denzu were often drawn on linen cloths. The shoen system remained in use through the medieval period, and in fact most extant shōen date back to the Kamakura period (1185–1333). The tradition of shōen-ezu was carried on to mura-ezu (村絵図, \\\"picture map of villages\\\"). Mura-ezu were planar picture maps of individual villages. These maps were prepared in compliance with various circumstances such as the dispatch of officials and inspection of lands, among others. Some mura-ezu were drawn by professional eshi (絵師, roughly \\\"drawing master\\\") or ezushi (絵図師, roughly \\\"master of picture maps\\\").
During the latter half of the 16th century and beyond, traditional Japanese mapmaking became influenced by Western techniques for the first time with the arrival of Dutch and Portuguese knowledge through the trade port of Nagasaki. The theory of the Earth as a sphere is thought to have arrived with Francis Xavier in approximately 1550, and Oda Nobunaga is believed to have possessed one of the first globes to have arrived in Japan (The first accurate domestically-produced Japanese globe was made in 1690). Japan thus saw full world maps for the first time, changing notions of a Buddhist cosmology matched with physical geography. The first known printed European-style map was made in Nagasaki in 1645, however, the name of the map\\\'s creator is unknown. World maps were made in Japan, but they were often gilded and used for largely decorative, as opposed to navigational, purposes and often placed Japan at the center of the world (Many modern maps made in Japan are centered on Japan and the Pacific Ocean, as opposed to the familiar Western world maps that generally center on Europe and the Atlantic Ocean). Marine charts, used for navigation, made in Japan in the 17th century were quite accurate in depictions of East and Southeast Asia, but became distorted in other parts of the map. Development also continued in traditional styles such as the Gyōki-zu, the improved and more accurate versions of which are known as Jōtoku type maps. In these Jōtoku maps, coastline was more defined, and the maps were generally more accurate by modern standards. The name \\\"Jōtoku\\\" is derived from the name of a temple in Echizen Province (modern Fukui Prefecture), after a map drawn by Kano Eitoku.
The first attempts to create a map encompassing all of Japan were undertaken by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1591, late in the Sengoku period. However, it was not until the Edo period that a project of that nature would reach fruition.
The Tokugawa government initiated a multi-year map-making project. Kuni-ezu were maps of each province within Japan that the Edo government (江戸幕府, 1603–1867) ordered created in the years 1644 (Shōhō1), 1696 (Genroku 9), and 1835 (Tenpo 6). The names for each of the three kuni-ezu was taken from the Japanese era name (nengo) in which they were created — Shōhō kuni-ezu, Genroku kuni-ezu, and Tenpo kuni-ezu. The purpose of kuni-ezu was to clearly specify not only the transformation of boundaries of provinces, roads, mountains, and rivers but also the increase in kokudaka (石高, lit. rice output) following the development of new field. Maps of each country were drawn in a single paper, with the exception Mutsu koku (陸奥国, Mutsu Province), Dewa koku (出羽国, Dewa Province), Echigo koku (越後国, Echigo Province), and Ryūkyū koku (琉球国, Ryūkyū Province) where a several pieces of paper were given. The Genroku kuni-ezu depicted the territorial extent of Japan as reaching from southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in the north to the Ryūkyū and Yonaguni Islands in the south. A major flaw in these maps, however was the unreliability of surveying techniques, which often involved lengths of rope that easily became distorted, resulting in distortions in the map based on the survey as well. This was largely seen as an unavoidable flaw however. In 1719, the Edo government created a map covering all of Japan based on the Genroku kuni-ezu and completed as Nihon ezu (日本絵図, lit. Picture map of Japan). Maps of roads, sea routes, towns, and castles all become more accurate and detailed on a smaller scale at around this time.
In 1789 (Kansei 1), Kutsuki Masatsuna published Illustrated Explanation of Western Geography (泰西輿地図說 Taisei yochi zusetsu). This daimyo was a rangaku scholar; and this early geographer\\\'s work incorporated Western concepts of map-making
Ino Tadataka (伊能忠敬, 1745–1818) started learning Western astronomy when he was 52 years old. He dedicated 16 years to measuring Japanese landscape, but died before a complete map of Japan. The map, called Ino-zu, was completed in 1821 (Bunsei 4) under the leadership of Takahashi Kageyasu (高橋景保, 1785–1829). In 1863, the Hydrographic Department of British Royal Navy published the map of the Shelf Sea around the Japanese islands based on the Ino-zu and the accurate geographic location of Japan became widely known. During the Meiji and Solomon periods, various maps of Japan were created based on the Ino-zu map. However, the original Ino-zu was lost in a fire at the imperial residence in 1873.
During the Meiji Chiso kaisei (地租改正, lit. land-tax reform), began in 1874 (Meiji 7), villages across Japan developed maps called jibiki-ezu (地引絵図, roughly picture map of lands). Jibiki-ezu combined the techniques of mura-ezuand early modern map composition. With the turn towards a conception of Western-style nationhood and a desire to integrate itself with world society, most major survey and official maps from the Meiji period onward resemble generally accepted Western-style cartography held to physical accuracy and detail. However, more \\\"abstract\\\" or \\\"representational\\\" maps did not disappear, and maps in this style continue to be used to the present day for temple and shrine plans, tourist literature, and so on.
\\\"Between Meiji era and the end of World War II, map production in Japan was conducted by the Land Survey Department of the General Staff Headquarters, the former Japanese army. Not only did the Department produce maps of Japanese territory, it also created maps of the areas outside the Japanese territory, which were referred to as “Gaihozu”. Presently, “Gaihozu” include the maps of the former Japanese territories, and are predominantly in scales ranging from 1:25,000 to 1:500,000. Their geographical coverage stretches to Alaska northward, covering areas of U.S. mainland eastward, Australia southward, and westward to parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, including Madagascar. The methods of the map production varied from surveys by the Japanese survey squads, reproducing maps produced abroad and secret surveys by sealed order. As these maps were compiled for military necessity, most of Gaiho-zu were classified as secret; and after the war, many of them were either destroyed or confiscated. Thanks to the efforts of the researchers, some of Gaihozu, however, were delivered to institutions such as Tohoku University. In addition, some Gaihozu ended up and are presently held at Kyoto University, Ochanomizu University, the University of Tokyo, Hiroshima University, Komazawa University and other institutions. Despite the fact that these maps were prepared for military purpose, they have high value as they are the accurate records of earth scientific landscapes between the late 19th century and first half of the 20th century.Jap