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Robert de Vaugondy’s Map of The Subcontinent

SKU: 8913
£500.00
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Title:
Robert de Vaugondy’s Map of The Subcontinent

Date of publication:

  • c.1790
  • Printed Measurement:

  • 50.5 x 64.5 cm
  • Colour:

  • original
  • Presqu’Isle des Indes Orientales, comprenant l’Indostan ou Empire du Mogol, differens Royaumes ou Etats, les vastes possessions des Anglais, et les autres etablissemens Europeens, avec les grandes routes

    This map of the subcontinent was added as a ‘Supplément à l'Atlas de M. Robert de Vaugondi’ in the 1780s, sometimes seen with the Boudet imprint and the date 1786. The paper of our example is watermarked with the date 1788. Read more

    Coverage of the the region in earlier editions of the Atlas Universel was more general, and the map reflects greater European exploration – frequently coupled with expansion – in the subcontinent in the later 18th century.

    Whereas some European mapping continued to preserve the polite fiction of the Mughal Empire at its greatest extent – as it had been under Aurangzeb at the opening of the 18th century, with only the southwestern tip of the subcontinent unconquered – this map attempts to show the realities of political control, giving due weight to the Sikh Empire, the Maratha Confederacy, the territory administered by the British East India Company and the numerous French, Portuguese, Dutch and Danish territories and trading posts.

    Condition & Materials

    Copper engraving, 50.5 x 64.5 cm, original hand colour in outline, light marginal waterstaining which does not affect the printed area, blank verso. Read less