Royaume de Siam / Cours du Fleuve Me-Nam (Më Nam Chào Phaja) dressé par le R. P. Lombard, missionnaire apostolique de Siam 1878-1879

Original antique map of the Kingdom of Siam and the course of the Me-Nam River (Më Nam Chào Phaja), drawn by Father Emile Lombard, apostolic missionary in Siam between 1878 and 1879, and published in Paris in 1886. The map represents the territory of present-day Thailand, focusing on the Me-Nam River, known today as the Chao Phraya, which flows through the country from the north to its mouth in the Gulf of Thailand. Father Lombard worked as a missionary in Siam for several years, which allowed him to collect first-hand geographical information. His map documents the course of the country’s main river, essential for transport, trade and the life of riverside populations. In the late nineteenth century, Siam maintained its independence against British and French colonial powers, and the work of missionaries and explorers provided geographical data on this region, poorly mapped in Europe. Emile Lombard belonged to the Paris Foreign Missions, which sent clergy to Asia. The map is a copper engraving.