1723 Carte d’Asie Dresée pour l’Usage du Roy Sur les memoires envoyéz par le Czar a l’Academie Royale des Sciences…

By: Guillaume Delisle Date: 1723 (dated) Paris Dimensions: 19.09 x 24.8 inches (48.5 cm x 63 cm) An elaborate map of the entire continent of Asia, including the islands of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Indonesia, the Philippines, Formosa (Taiwan), and Japan. On the periphery can be seen Italy and the Balkans, the Baltics, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Comoros Islands, the coast of northern Siberia, the Mariana and Caroline Islands, and the western part of New Guinea. The Japanese island of Honshu is labeled “Terre d’Eso ou d’Yesso” and is attached to the easternmost part of Asia, with the Kamchatka Peninsula apparently unknown. A fragment of a separate coast east of that is labeled “Terre de la Compagnie” (Company’s Territory). The map was printed on watermarked paper that includes an oval with three or four letters, possibly JHD, and on the other side, the Jesuit emblem, consisting of a circle containing the letters IHS topped by a cross. Title cartouche, in a baroque frame topped with the roy