Precious work by ꓛanville in which he explains the method he used
to prepare the maps of the Description of China by Du Halde.
Beijing, Paris, 1776.
ꓛanville, Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’. Memoir of M. ꓛanville, Premier Geographer of the King, of the Royal Academies of Literature, & of Sciences. On China.
In Beijing, and available in Paris at the Author’s, at the Louvre Galleries, rue de l’Ortie, 1776.
In-8 of 47 pp. Full mottled sheep binding, gilt roulette framing around the boards, spine smoothly decorated, yellow edges. Binding of the time.
197 x 125 mm.
Original edition of this work by the great French cartographer d’Anville who was engaged by the Jesuits to produce three maps based on the discoveries of the Jesuit missionaries in China, to be included in the “Geographical description… of the Empire of China and Chinese Tartary” by Pierre Du Halde (1735).
They were later revised for the “New Atlas of China” (1737).
In the “Memoir”, he explains in detail the method he employed to prepare the maps, the sources he chose to consult, and provides an overview of previous expeditions conducted in China and Tibet.
Cordier, Sinica 187; Lust 154; Lowendahl 585.
The work, published in 1776, contains d’Anville’s explanation for his methodology in constructing maps of China specifically: in 1735, d’Anville had prepared numerous maps for Jean-Baptiste Du Halde’s Geographical description of the empire of China and Tartary, maps which were subsequently revised and published separately in d’Anville’s New Atlas of China of 1737. In particular, d’Anville sought to defend the Jesuit-sourced data which he based his maps on following strongly-worded criticism by an unnamed editor.
Precious copy preserved in its elegant binding of the time.
