Important Notice

French title cartouche: “Carte des Indes et de la Chine Dressée sur plusieurs Relations Rectifiées par quelques Observations. Par Guillaume De l’Isle de l’Academie Royale des Sciences. A Amsterdam Chez Jean Covens et Corneille Mortier.”

FROM GOA TO THE GREAT WALL: DE L’ISLE’S ENLIGHTENMENT MAP OF THE INDIES AND CHINA

This finely detailed and hand-coloured map of the Indies and China, produced by the renowned French... French title cartouche: “Carte des Indes et de la Chine Dressée sur plusieurs Relations Rectifiées par quelques Observations. Par Guillaume De l’Isle de l’Academie Royale des Sciences. A Amsterdam Chez Jean Covens et Corneille Mortier.”

FROM GOA TO THE GREAT WALL: DE L’ISLE’S ENLIGHTENMENT MAP OF THE INDIES AND CHINA

This finely detailed and hand-coloured map of the Indies and China, produced by the renowned French cartographer Guillaume de L’Isle and published in Amsterdam by Covens & Mortier, stands as one of the most authoritative European depictions of the Asian subcontinent and Southeast Asia from the early 18th century. Originally issued in Paris in the early 1700s, this Dutch reissue by Jean Covens and Corneille Mortier—celebrated map publishers of the Low Countries—demonstrates the scientific precision that distinguished de L’Isle’s cartography.

De L'Isle's maps, grounded in the empirical methodologies of the French Académie Royale des Sciences, marked a significant shift in cartographic history, shifting from decorative speculation to geographic accuracy. This edition synthesises an expansive region encompassing the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, the Indonesian archipelago, and parts of eastern Asia such as Tartary, Korea, and Japan, with particular attention to political boundaries, toponyms, and coastal detail.

Notable features include the delineation of Indian regions such as Golconde, Bengale, Guzaratte, Decan, and Malabar, each outlined in fine hand colouring. China appears in the plural (Empires de la Chine), reflecting the era’s uncertainties regarding internal territorial divisions. The Tibetan Plateau, Ladakh, and the Himalayas are annotated with speculative rivers and mountain ranges, indicative of the period’s evolving geographical understanding.

The Malay Peninsula and Indonesian islands—Sumatra, Java, and Borneo—are rendered with remarkable specificity, while major ports and trade routes, including Goa, Malacca, and Batavia (Jakarta), are prominently depicted. These details highlight the map’s dual function as both a scientific document and a visual testament to European mercantile interests.

De L’Isle’s Carte des Indes et de la Chine exemplifies Enlightenment cartography, merging classical visual conventions with empirical rigour. The Amsterdam edition, published after 1720, was widely circulated and admired for its navigational usefulness and aesthetic appeal. Today, it is considered a key artefact for collectors of early Asian maps and historians of colonial geography.

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