Carte particulière de la Chine

Original antique map of China, engraved by Louis Vivien and published in Paris in 1825. This map represents the Chinese territory as a whole, showing the main administrative and geographical divisions of the empire during the Qing dynasty. The cartography details provinces, major cities, rivers and mountain ranges that structure the vast territory. The map reflects European geographical knowledge of China in the early 19th century, when commercial relations between Europe and the Chinese empire were intensifying, mainly through the port of Canton, the only one open to Western trade until 1842. Louis Vivien was a French engraver active in Paris during the first third of the 19th century, specialized in cartography and illustrations for geographical and encyclopedic works. Copper engraving.