La Gran Tartaria

Important and fanciful map of East Asia and Siberia based on the writings of two extraordinary French travellers and the surveys of the Society of Jesus.

This is one of the better known early maps of Tartary, partly due to its spectacular illustrated cartouche and partly due to the fame of its sources. These are listed on the cartouche.

Geographically, the map stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to the eastern coast of the continent. The south shows the northern part of the Moghul Empire with the north coast of Asia being the limit at the other end.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier is the most famous of the sources cited. He was one of the ultimate merchant adventurers with an expertise in diamonds and gems. He made six voyages to Asia in the 17th century and is best known for selling the “Tavernier Blue” diamond to Louis XIV. After being re-cut, this would go on to become the Hope Diamond in the 19th century. He wrote a detailed account of his travels which served map makers for decades.

Jean de Thevenot was a sometime travelling companion of Tavernier, who worked in the same field but separated from him and stayed in the Moghul Empire.

The Jesuits mentioned on the map is most likely the new survey of China compiled by Martino di Martini and published by Joan Blaeu in 1655. The shape of Japan, although cruder, is geographically reminiscent of the map from the survey.

The large, illustrated cartouche of a mounted Tartar chieftain and his family was engraved by Giorgio Widman and is one of the most famous features of this map.

There are two editions of this map: one issued in 1683 and the other in 1693. This example was published in 1693.

[AS1266]