Asia (6)
1626 (1676) John Speed Antique Map of China - Island of Korea, Japan.
- Title : The Kingdome of China newly augumented by J.S. 1626
- Date : 1626 (1676)
- Size: 21 3/4in x 17in (550mm x 430mm)
- Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
- Ref: 35668
Description:
This original hand coloured copper plate engraved antique map of China including the Island of Korea & Japan along with parts of SE & Central Asia by John Speed was published in the 1676 Bassett & Chiswell edition of Speeds famous atlas Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World.
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Light and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink, red
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 21 3/4in x 17in (550mm x 430mm)
Plate size: - 20 1/2in x 15 3/4in (520mm x 400mm)
Margins: - Min 3/4in (20mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning
Plate area: - Light age toning along centerfold, two light angled crease along top, slight uplift along centerfold
Verso: - Light age toning, re-enforced along centerfold and top corners.
Background:
The Kingdome of China, one of the first English-language maps of China. Note the
generally correct outline of the Ming China, with many provinces labeled (Cantam/Guangdong, Quancii/Guangxi, Chequiam/Zhejiang, Quicheu/Guizhou, Fuquam/en:Huguang/ Huguang, Honao/Henan, Xanton/Shandong, Xiamxii and Sancii (Shanxi and Shaanxi?). “Xuntien alias Quinzay” more or less corresponds to Beijing (the name Shuntian Prefecture was indeed in use). However, north of China proper, John Speed had also placed Cathaya, the Chief Kingdome of Great Cam, with the capital Cambalu (Khanbaliq - i.e., in fact, the same Beijing). This kind of duplication was common on the maps of the period, as geographers had not apparently yet fully identified Marco Polo’s Cathay with the China then known to Europeans, and Cambalu with Beijing. The Great Wall is depicted on the map, along with several annotations. Korea is shown as an Island. Japan is also shown using a very curious depiction. The map includes a portion
of India within the Ganges region, extending well into Central Asia. In addition to the
wonderful land-views showing a sailing land craft, manner of execution (crucifixion)
and city views of Macao and Quinzay and the costumed figures of Chinese, Japanese
and Pegu men and women, there are interesting notes throughout the map on various historical and mythical aspects of China, including a region where men are seduced by wonderful illusions and dirt is spun into cloth. (Ref: Tooley, Koeman)
Please note all items auctioned are genuine, we do not sell reproductions. A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) can be issued on request.
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.
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)
1541 Fries Ptolemaic Antique Map of the Caucasus - Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan
- Title : Tabula Tertia Asiae complectitur Colchidem, Iberiam, Alberiam & Armeniam maiorem
- Date : 1541
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
- Ref: 92814
- Size: 20 1/2in x 15in (520mm x 380mm)
Description:
This beautifully hand coloured original antique Ptolemaic map by Laurent Fries of the Caucasus region of central Asia - straddling the Black & Caspian Seas (what is today part of the Russian Federation and includes the countries of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, north-western Iran & north-eastern Turkey) - was published by in the 1541 Vienna edition of Ptolemy's Geographia
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Yellow, green, red, blue.
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 20 1/2in x 15in (520mm x 380mm)
Plate size: - 20 1/2in x 15in (520mm x 380mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
Background:
Claude Ptolemy - a Greek mathematician, astronomer and geographer, living in Alexandria, assembled and codified his predecessors' cartographic theories including those of Strabo & Marinus of Tyre (c. AD 120) to whom he was especially indebted. In about AD 150 he published his Geographia, a work in 8 volumes, supposedly illustrated with a world map, 26 regional maps and a profusion of smaller maps. Although the text of the Geographia survived, no maps older than about the twelfth century have come down to us and, in consequence, we have no means of knowing whether the 'Ptolemy' maps on which we set so much store were, in fact, drawn by him or were the interpretations of later map makers using his text as a basis.
In Europe the initial awakening of interest in geography arose from the revival of knowledge of Ptolemy's Geographia soon after the year 1400. Greek manuscript copies made in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries were brought by scholars to Italy from Constantinople and were subsequently translated into Latin and widely studied. This work coincided with, and was much influenced by, the development of printing techniques, particularly, of course, by the invention of movable-type printing by Gutenberg about 1450, which made possible for the first time the production of printed books in quantity. Apart from this factor, other more far-reaching influences were compelling the peoples of Western Europe to look beyond the horizon they had known for so many centuries. With the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 the Turks effectively closed Europe's trade routes to the East and shut off access to traditional sources of luxuries and precious metals from Asia and, above all, denied the supply of the spices which had become so important in the lives of ordinary people. Other factors often based on long-believed myths and legends added to the urge to break out into the unknown world.
The interpretation of Ptolemy's text began mainly with the Italians Angelus, Beroaldus & Vadius in 1477 and was re-interpreted and re-issued by many over the next century by the likes Waldseemuller 1513, Gastaldi 1548, Mercator 1578 & Magini 1596. (Ref: Tooley; M&B; Dover)
1782 Du Bocage & Barthelemy Antique Map of The Dardanelles, Turkey - Hellespont
- Title : L Helles-Pont...1782
- Size: 15in x 10in (380mm x 255mm)
- Ref #: 16467
- Date : 1782
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
Description:
This original copper-plate engraved map by Jean Denis Barbie du Bocage was engraved in 1782 - dated in the title - and was published in the 1787 edition of Jean-Jacques Barthelemy famous Voyage du jeune Anarcharsis en Grece or Travels of Anacharsis the younger in Greecein 4 volumes.
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 10in (380mm x 255mm)
Plate size: - 8 1/2in x 7 1/2in (215mm x 185mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued
Verso: - None
Background:
Jean-Jacques Barthelemy 1716 – 1795 was a French writer and numismatist.
Barthelemy was the author of a number of learned works on antiquarian subjects, but the great work on which his fame rests is Travels of Anacharsis the younger in Greece (French: Voyage du jeune Anarcharsis en Grece, 4 vols., 1787). He had begun it in 1757 and had been working on it for thirty years. The hero, a young Scythian descended from the famous philosopher Anacharsis, is supposed to repair to Greece for instruction in his early youth, and after making the tour of her republics, colonies and islands, to return to his native country and write this book in his old age, after the Macedonian hero had overturned the Persian empire. In the manner of modern travellers, he gives an account of the customs, government, and antiquities of the country he is supposed to have visited. A copious introduction supplies whatever may be wanting in respect to historical details, while various dissertations on the music of the Greeks, on the literature of the Athenians, and on the economy, pursuits, ruling passions, manners, and customs of the surrounding states supply ample information on the subjects of which they treat.
Modern scholarship has superseded most of the details in the Voyage, but the author himself did not imagine his book to be a register of accurately ascertained facts. Rather, he intended to afford to his countrymen, in an interesting form, some knowledge of Greek civilisation. The Charicles, or Illustrations of the Private Life of the Ancient Greeks of Wilhelm Adolf Becker is an attempt in a similar direction
1781 Du Bocage & Barthelemy Original Antique Map of The Black Sea, Anacharsis Yr
- Title : Carte Du Palus Meotide et du Pont Euxin Pour le Voyage du Jeune Anacharsis....MDCCLXXXI
- Size: 15in x 10in (380mm x 255mm)
- Ref #: 16467
- Date : 1781
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
Description:
This original copper-plate engraved map by Jean Denis Barbie du Bocage was engraved in 1781 - dated in the title - and was published in the 1787 edition of Jean-Jacques Barthelemy famous Voyage du jeune Anarcharsis en Grece or Travels of Anacharsis the younger in Greece in 4 volumes.
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 10in (380mm x 255mm)
Plate size: - 11in x 8 1/2in (280mm x 215mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued
Verso: - None
Background:
Jean-Jacques Barthelemy 1716 – 1795 was a French writer and numismatist.
Barthelemy was the author of a number of learned works on antiquarian subjects, but the great work on which his fame rests is Travels of Anacharsis the younger in Greece (French: Voyage du jeune Anarcharsis en Grece, 4 vols., 1787). He had begun it in 1757 and had been working on it for thirty years. The hero, a young Scythian descended from the famous philosopher Anacharsis, is supposed to repair to Greece for instruction in his early youth, and after making the tour of her republics, colonies and islands, to return to his native country and write this book in his old age, after the Macedonian hero had overturned the Persian empire. In the manner of modern travellers, he gives an account of the customs, government, and antiquities of the country he is supposed to have visited. A copious introduction supplies whatever may be wanting in respect to historical details, while various dissertations on the music of the Greeks, on the literature of the Athenians, and on the economy, pursuits, ruling passions, manners, and customs of the surrounding states supply ample information on the subjects of which they treat.
Modern scholarship has superseded most of the details in the Voyage, but the author himself did not imagine his book to be a register of accurately ascertained facts. Rather, he intended to afford to his countrymen, in an interesting form, some knowledge of Greek civilisation. The Charicles, or Illustrations of the Private Life of the Ancient Greeks of Wilhelm Adolf Becker is an attempt in a similar direction