Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville (1697-1782) was one of the most important French geographers of the 18th century. This map of Guangdong Province in southern China is one of 42 maps in his <em>Nouvel atlas de la Chine, de la Tartarie Chinoise et du Thibet </em>(New atlas of China, Chinese Tartary, and Tibet), published in Holland in 1737 as a companion work to Father J.B. Du Halde’s <em>Description géographique, historique, chronologique, politique, et physique de l'empire de la Chine</em> (Geographic, historical, chronological, political, and physical description of the Chinese Empire), published the previous year. D’Anville’s maps of China were based on a survey of the Chinese empire that was ordered by the emperor in 1708 and carried out by the Chinese, but under the supervision of Jesuit priests resident in China. The detail about the interior of China was far superior to any previous Western map or atlas. D’Anville’s work remained a standard Western source for the geography of China and adjacent regions until well into the 19th century, when it finally was superseded by more accurate maps.
Anville, Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d' (1697-1782)
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<ul><li>Gallery: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.wdl.org/en/item/167/">http://www.wdl.org/en/item/167/</a></li></ul>