Tartaria Sinensis

Outstanding
example of the German edition of d’Anville’s map of northern China, Mongolia
and Korea.

This large map of what is today North and South Korea, northern China, Mongolia and the extreme eastern border of Russia has recently become more collectable as its importance has been recognized.

The cartouche clearly states its sources: Jean -Francois Gerbillon is the name mentioned although he was just one member of a Jesuit mission sent to China in 1685 to found the French Jesuit Mission. Upon their arrival, Gerbillon and another member, Joachim Bouvet, were attached to the Court of the Kangxi Emperor. They were part of the Chinese Embassy sent to negotiate a new border with Russia which resulted in the Treaty of Nerchinsk. On their return from the successful conclusion to the Treaty, Gerbillon obtained a favoured position at the Court and frequently travelled with or on behalf of the Emperor, particularly into northern China, Mongolia and the borders of Korea. While on these travels, he took multiple geographical readings as well as recording both scientific, natural and ethnographic data.

His letters were sent back to Paris, where P. du Halde used them to publish the “Description de la Chine” in 1732. His notes and sketches were also compiled into a large map of China by Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville, the leading French map maker of the time.

This map is directly sourced from D’Anville’s map by Tobia Mayer for the firm of Homann’s Heirs and seems to have been printed for a German translation of the “Description de Chine”. Geographically, the map covers the east coast of Asia, including a primitive version of Sakhalin island, a detailed map of the peninsula of Korea, which was forbidden to Europeans at the time, northern China, including Beijing, Mongolia and the eastern boundary of Russia. The detail is extremely fine for the time; many caravan routes are shown as well as multiple ruins, including a speculative location for the capital of the Mongol Empire, “Terra Kalkarum”. Several Latin text panels describe the local flora, fauna, ethnography and history.

This example of the map is in its complete form in two sheets joined. Original colour. [SEAS5495]