An original and historically important late-18th-century engraved chart from the celebrated voyage of Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de La Pérouse, one of the last great Enlightenment-era expeditions of discovery.
Titled:
“Chart of Discoveries, made in 1787, in the Seas of China and Tartary, by the Boussole and Astrolabe, from their leaving Manilla, to their arrival at Kamtschatka. Sheet II.”
This chart was published in London in 1798 by G. G. & J. Robinson, based on discoveries made during the 1787 phase of the expedition.
La Pérouse’s voyage (1785–1788) was commissioned by Louis XVI to rival the explorations of Captain Cook and to advance scientific and geographic knowledge of the Pacific and East Asia. The expedition’s two ships, the Boussole and Astrolabe, conducted detailed hydrographic surveys of poorly charted coastlines before vanishing mysteriously after leaving Australia — a disappearance that only heightened the historical importance of surviving charts from the voyage.
This chart represents one of the earliest coherent Western attempts to accurately map Northeast Asia, synthesising firsthand French observations with earlier Russian and Japanese sources.
This Sheet II concentrates on Northeast Asia and the North Pacific, and includes:
The Japanese archipelago, including Honshu, Yezo (Hokkaido), and the Kuril Islands
Korea (Corea) and the surrounding seas
Tartary and Manchuria (Mantchous), showing contemporary European geographical understanding
The Kamchatka Peninsula, a critical strategic and navigational region
The Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, and part of the Pacific Ocean
The plotted track of La Pérouse’s voyage, clearly marking the ships’ northward passage toward Kamchatka
The chart is notable for its restrained yet precise engraving, clean coastal delineation, and navigational clarity, all characteristic of late-18th-century British engraving after French originals.
Specifications: 51.5 x 42.5cm
*Note: If shipping is less or more than described price for international buyers, a subsequent invoice will reconcile differences.