1610 Regnum Chinae
DESCRIPTION
A scarce miniature map of China issued under Hondius, derived from Mercator’s influential model and reflecting an early European understanding prior to the enlightenment of Jesuit sources. The map presents China under the simple cartouche title “China,” while the running header above the plate reads “Regnum Chinæ” with page number 631, indicating its inclusion in a small-format atlas.
Oriented to the West with North on the right, this map of China is depicted with provinces and densely labeled with cities, rivers, and mountain chains, including Quinci, Xanton, Honao, Quantung, and Pegu, conveying a strong impression of China as a highly organized and urbanized empire. Notably, Corea is depicted as an island, placed unusually far south between Japan and the Chinese mainland, a persistent European cartographic misconception of the period. Japan appears in fragmented form to the east, while Southeast Asia and the interior of Asia remain only partially resolved.
CONDITION
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