History: Antique Maps

Title: 1608-12 Map of China
Description: The most decorative map of China. Oriented with north to the right, there are cartouches for the title, scale and privilege; on the map are elephants, Tartar tents and land-yachts. Japan has an extra landmass to the east, with its further reaches hidden by the scale cartouche. The Philippines appear, but with little accuracy or detail; they were not even named until the second state
Publisher: Abraham Ortelius
Download: High-Res pdf

Title: 1636 ca Map of China, Japan, Korea
Description: Decorative map of China, Japan, Korea and including the north portion of the Philippines. The map depicts the eastern part of China (bounded in the west by the Great Wall), Korea as an island, and the three main islands of Japan.
Publisher: Willem Janszoon Blaeu
Download: High-Res pdf

Title: 1663 Map of Southeast Asia, China &c
Description: Second and highly revised state of this important early map of Southeast Asia, showing the region between Ceylon, Japan, the Mariana Islands and Timor, the Philippine Islands at center, published by Thevenot in his Relations de divers Voyages. At top left 2 small inset-maps, one showing the delta of the Ganges river; furthermore a drawing of the Great Wall in China, and a note reflecting the voyage of J. da Gama from China to Mexico. As noted by Suarez, the map is an engraved rendering of a Portuguese portolan chart in 1664, which was the very year that the French East India Company was formed. The map appeared in the second part Thevenot’s great compendium of voyages, Relations de divers Voyages, a work which was to France what Hakluyt’s writing had been to England and Ramusio’s had been to Italy. The map is based upon a 1649 portolan chart by the Portugese Royal mapmaker Joao Teixeira. The present example is from 1672 or 1696. It can be distinguished from the first edition of 1663 by the addition of a number of rivers, lakes, mountains, including the names of provinces to the interior of China. The Great Wall of China is also completely re-done. This later edition also includes newly engraved compass lines
Publisher: Melchisedec Thevenot
Download: High-Res pdf

Title: 1729 Map of The Empire of China and Island of Japan
Description: Detailed map of China, Korea and Japan. Names the Sea of Korea, with a very curious shape for the Peninsula of Korea.
Publisher: Herman Moll
Download: High-Res pdf