Carte d‘Asie : dressée sur les mémoires envoyéz par le czar a l‘Academie royale des science

Circa 1757

Copper engraving with original outline colour on paper

Print size: 19 x 24.25 in (48.5 x 61.5 cm)
Sheet size: 21.25 x 26.75 in (54 x 68 cm)

Full title: Carte d'Asie : dressée sur les mémoires envoyéz par le czar a l'Academie royale des science, sur ce que les Arabes nous ont laissé de plus exact des pays orientaux, sur un grand nombre de routiers de terre et de mer et des cartes manuscrites detaillées : le tout assujetti aux observations de l'Academie et a celles de R.R.P.P. jesuites et autres mathematiciens

Carte d’Asie, Dressée sur les Mémoires Envoyez par le Czar — India and the Greater Asian World in a French Enlightenment Map

This Carte d’Asie, dressée sur les mémoires envoyez par le Czar embodies the fusion of French scientific cartography and early modern imperial intelligence that reshaped European geographic understanding of India and Asia. India occupies a central and prominent position, delineated with careful hydrographic detail and political subdivisions commensurate with early-eighteenth-century European sources. The river systems of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra are traced with remarkable clarity for their period, while the Himalayan chain forms a decisive natural boundary marking the edge of the Indian world.

Based on memoranda reportedly transmitted from the Russian imperial court (mémoires envoyez par le Czar), the map reveals the expanding geographical networks and survey data emerging from Russian engagement in Central Asia. This information, when synthesized by French geographic science, yielded one of the most authoritative continental conceptions of Asia before the rise of systematic British surveys.

Attributed to Guillaume Delisle, whose cartographic reforms emphasized rigorous source comparison and astronomical longitude determination, the sheet was subsequently published in Amsterdam by Covens & Mortier, a leading European map publisher. This example is distinguished by its fine engraving, compositional balance, and historical resonance. It remains highly desirable for collectors and institutions alike as a document of Enlightenment geographic knowledge and India’s placement at the crossroads of Eurasian cartographic exchange.

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