Carte des missions catholiques au Japon

Map of the Catholic missions in Japan, a chromolithograph published in Paris in the “Journal des missions catholiques”. It includes three inset maps of the Kuril Islands, the Empire of Japan and the Ryukyu Islands. A key in the upper part details the division of this territory into dioceses and archdioceses, identifying the island of Formosa (Taiwan) as a vicariate. Adrien-Charles Launay (1853-1927) was a priest of the Society of Foreign Missions and served as historian and archivist of the society from 1884 to 1927. Thanks to his work as a missionary, he wrote numerous works on the history of the Society and of various missions. He even came to publish an atlas of the missions of the Society of Foreign Missions.