"[Lot of 3] Asia According to the Latest Observations [and] L'Asie pour la Concorde de la Geographie des Differents Ages [and] Asia Secondo, le Ultime Osservazioni dell' Accademia Reale delle Scienze",

A. Asia According to the Latest Observations, by Patrick Gordon, from Geography Anatomiz'd: or, the Geographical Grammar..., circa 1722 (8.6 x 6.5"). Engraved by John Senex, this map of Asia features some fascinating 18th-century misconceptions about the continent. Yedso is attached to Japan by a conjectural coastline, with a vague coastline labeled Compagnias Land to its east. The Desarts of Chamo (Gobi Desert) and the Great Wall of China are depicted graphically. The spurious Chiamay L. appears near Tibet. As with many maps of this period, the Caspian Sea appears in a stubby form. Condition: Issued folding with minor foxing in the blank margins.

B. L'Asie pour la Concorde de la Geographie des Differents Ages, by Noel-Antoine Pluche, from Concorde de la Geographie des Differens Ages, circa 1765 (7.9 x 5.6"). This small map of Asia was created by Noel-Antoine Pluche, a French priest and the author of Le Spectacle de la Nature, a popular multi-volume work of natural history. The map depicts T de Yeco as an island with a conjectural western coastline. To its north is the small I de Saghalien and I des Etats as well as two partial coastlines, I. de Gama and I. de la Compagnie. It also shows a portion of the Great Wall of China. Engraved by Lattre. Condition: Issued folding with minor soiling and faint offsetting.

C. Asia Secondo, le Ultime Osservazioni dell' Accademia Reale delle Scienze, circa 1800 (6.9 x 5.4"). This interesting miniature map of the continent comes from one of the later Italian editions of Buffier's Geographie Universelle. Iesso is depicted as an island, separated from the Kamchatka Peninsula by only a narrow strait. Two small islands, I. della Compa. and I. degli Stati, appear off the coast of Kamchatka. The Caspian Sea is shown in a squat configuration. In western China, numerous rivers sprout from a mythical lake. New Guinea seems to be bisected by a strait. Across the Bering Strait, a note indicates that Russian American was discovered in 1741. Condition: Issued folding on watermarked paper with some minor toning and marginal spots.

References:

Condition: A

See description above.