Original antique engraving of a panoramic view of Peking.
Engraved by Jaques-Nicolas Bellin after a drawing by the German traveller Nieuhof.
It shows Peking (now Beijing) as it appeared during the beginning of the Qing Dynasty. The original drawings were created by Johan Nieuhof (often spelled Nieuhof or Nieuhoff) to document his journey through China at a time of increased European interest in Asia, particularly China, driven by trade and exploration. The Dutch East India Company played a significant role in these endeavors, and maps like this were crucial for navigation and understanding foreign territories
Johan Nieuhof (1618 - 1672) was a traveller and explorer with the Dutch East India Company. Born Lower Saxony he spent most of his life in Brazil, China and India. His written account of his journey from Canton to Peking in 1655-1657 called “An embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperor of China” made him famous and improved European knowledge about China, developed the fashion in Europe for Chinoiserie and made him an important author and scholar on China.
On a different journey, this time to Ceylon, he was arrested for illegally trading in pearls which led to his dismissal from the Dutch East India Company. Some time after his release he disappeared somewhere in Madagascar and was never seen again.
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772), a French geographer, was among the most important mapmakers of the eighteenth century. In 1721, at the age of 18, he was appointed hydrographer of the Ministry of the Navy following the French hydrographic office's creation and the Dépot of charts and plans of the Navy. Appointed hydrographic engineer in August 1741. Member of the Academy of the Navy and the Royal Society of London.
Over the course of a 50-year career, he drew the maps of several major works of his time such as Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle-France de Charlevoix (1744); Histoire générale des voyages de l'Abbé Prévost (published between 1746 and 1759) ); Neptune François (1753), Hydrographie Françoise (1756-1765), and Petit Atlas Français (1763) - reissued as Petit Atlas Maritime (1765). He is the most copied cartographer of the 18th century.
