Imperii Sinarum Nova Descriptio

Map of China, which represented for the West a great advance in cartographic knowledge of East Asia. It was published in the Atlas Sinensis, by Martino Martini, an Italian Jesuit missionary considered an authority in matters of the cartographic recording of Chinese territory. This atlas, published by Covens & Mortier in Amsterdam, is considered the first Western atlas of China and represents the pinnacle of the golden age of Dutch cartography. The map also stands out for being very accurate and up to date. Korea, which was traditionally represented as an island, here appears connected to the continent, which meant an important cartographic correction of the region on European maps. Hokkaido (Ieso) also appears, the northernmost of the principal islands of Japan, recognised here for the first time as an island to the north of Honshu, the principal island of the archipelago. The Great Wall in the north, the island of Formosa (Taiwan) and the north of the Philippines also appear. Covens & Mortier (1721-c.1862) was a successful Dutch publishing firm established in Amsterdam that quickly became one of the largest and most prolific of the 18th century, with a lifespan of nearly 120 years. Its immediate predecessor was the Frenchman Pierre Mortier (1661-1711), owner of a very prosperous publishing house that he bequeathed to his son, C