Antique Map of China with the Route of Lord Macartney and Lord Amherst, 1858
€ 240
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1858
Mapmaker / artist
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
Publisher
Edward Stanford, London
Technique
Steel engraving
Coloring
Hand colored
Sheet size
44 × 35.5 cm (17.3 × 14.0 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14227-1-21
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Light wear to the corners; minor nicks to the left edge. Age toning, darker at the edges; edge soiling and scattered foxing in the margins. A center fold, as issued. Printed image clean.
About this sheet
An original antique map of China, a steel engraving colored by hand in outline, with each province bounded in its own color and a pale blue wash along the coasts and lakes. The title reads "China. The Interior chiefly from Du Halde and the Jesuits 1710 to 1718 and the Sea Coast from Modern Authorities". The map covers China proper from Chinese Tartary, the Great Wall and the Koko Nor in the north to Tong-quin, Hainan and the Paracel Islands in the south, with Thibet to the left and the Leo-tong Gulf, Korea, the Yellow Sea and Formosa to the right. Peking, Nanking and Canton are named.
Within the title block a key explains Chinese terms: Foo, city of the first order; Chew, city of the second order; Hyen, city of the third order; Ching, small town; Hae, sea; Ho and Kiang, river; Hou, lake; Kew, gate or mouth of a river; Mun, sea-gate or strait; Quan, fort; Shan, island; Wey, walled town. A dashed line is explained as "Route of Lord Macartney in 1793 and of Lord Amherst in 1816." Scales in the right margin read "English Miles 69·1 = One Degree" and "Chinese Li (according to M. de Prony) 192·1 = One Degree". The plate number 21 is engraved in the right margin, and the imprint "London; Edward Stanford 6 Charing Cross." runs below the border.
The plate comes from The Harrow Atlas of Modern Geography, published by Edward Stanford in London in 1858 and sold at Harrow by Crossley and Clarke, booksellers to Harrow School. Its maps were selected from the series of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, founded in London in 1826, which issued its maps in parts from 1829 and was wound up in 1848; Stanford later issued them under his own imprint. As the title states, the interior is drawn chiefly from Du Halde and the Jesuits, 1710 to 1718, while the coast follows later sources; the map marks Hong-kong I. off the Canton estuary.
This is an original antique map, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
