Search

The cartouche on this map of Asia features an Asian man smoking a long pipe, surrounded by packages, vases, a bow and arrow, a censer (incense burner) and a camel carrying a large load. The second sheet of the map features Southeast Asia.

Map of Asia based—according to the subtitle—on discoveries by the British Royal Navy captain James Cook. It includes Batavia (Jakarta) where he visited in 1770, and the South China Sea through which his ship Resolution sailed after his death in 1779.

This map shows the empires and kingdoms of Southeast Asia. Its decorative cartouche features drawings of plants, a camel, a vase, and the heads of children blowing to represent wind. An inset shows tall buildings, possibly Asian temples.

On this map of Asia, New Guinea is shown as two separate islands—the western part as ‘Isle de Papous’ and the eastern part as ‘Nouvelle Guinée’—showing that in the 1770s the details of the region were uncertain.

This map shows the empires and kingdoms of Southeast Asia. Its decorative cartouche features drawings of plants, a camel, a vase, and the heads of children blowing to represent wind. An inset shows tall buildings, possibly Asian temples.

On this map of Asia, New Guinea is shown as two separate islands—the western part as ‘Isle de Papous’ and the eastern part as ‘Nouvelle Guinée’—showing that in the 1770s the details of the region were uncertain.

This map of the Sunda Isles (‘Isles de la Sonde’) (with red borders) and Maluku Islands (‘Isles Moluques’) (blue borders) also includes mainland Southeast Asia (green borders), the Philippines (yellow borders) and New Guinea (green borders).

This late 18th century map of Southeast Asia is by the Dutch cartographer Henri Abraham Chatelain (1648–1743). As often found on maps of this time, larger settlements are represented by drawings of small groups of buildings.

Created for Middleton’s ‘Complete System of Geography’, this map of Asia includes the ancient kingdoms of mainland Southeast Asia, the Sunda Islands and Moluccas of maritime Southeast Asia, as well as the Philippines and New Guinea.

Some regions on this map of Southeast have a descriptive label: New Guinea is described as unknown to Europeans; Borneo was abandoned by Europeans due to the ‘unmanageability’ of the inhabitants; the Philippines were discovered by Spain in 1565.

Some regions on this map of Southeast have a descriptive label: New Guinea is described as unknown to Europeans; Borneo was abandoned by Europeans due to the ‘unmanageability’ of the inhabitants; the Philippines were discovered by Spain in 1565.

Map of Asia featuring an early—and very vague—depiction of New Britain (‘Nieuw Brittanje’) which was named by the British explorer William Dampier when he visited in 1700. The ‘Straat van Dampier’ is also shown, dividing New Britain from New Guinea.