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A simple hand-coloured map of Asia, with a cartouche of shell, leaves and plants. It shows that in the late 18th century, the details of New Guinea and Australia (‘Nieuw Holland’) were uncertain.

A simple hand-coloured map of Asia, with a cartouche of shell, leaves and plants. It shows that in the late 18th century, the details of New Guinea and Australia (‘Nieuw Holland’) were uncertain.

Labels on this late 18th century map of Southeast Asia describe two indigenous populations—the ‘Kemoy’ of the mountains along the border of Cochin China (Vietnam) and Camboja (Cambodia), and the ‘Biayos’ of central Borneo—as ‘a wild Nation’.

A plan of the port of Batavia with a detailed legend identifying parts of the city. The sword and laurel wreath of the city’s coat of arms, and the Dutch East India Company flag (marked ‘VOC’ or ‘Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie’) are also shown.

A piece of paper printed with a list of the various regions of Asia, including the regions of Southeast Asia, has been adhered to the right-hand side of this late 18th century map of Asia.

The arrows on this map mark the direction of the seasonal monsoons experienced in the South China Sea and Philippine Sea during the late 18th century. Each arrow has a label indicating the month.

This map of Asia has coloured borders around mainland Southeast Asia, the Philippines, the Sunda Islands (‘Isles de la Sonde’) and the Maluku Islands (‘Isles Moluques’). The cartouche features a drawing of a sailing ship and boxes of goods.

Coloured borders divide this late 18th century map of Asia into empires, kingdoms and regions. Five major rivers that flow south through mainland Southeast Asia are named: Aua, Pegu, Tenasserim, Menan and Camboya.

A late 18th century map of maritime Southeast Asia by the French geographer Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703–1772). The title refers to the ‘Stretto della Sonda’ (Sunda Strait), the strait between the islands of Sumatra and Java.

A plan of the port of Batavia with a detailed legend identifying parts of the city. The sword and laurel wreath of the city’s coat of arms, and the Dutch East India Company flag (marked ‘VOC’ or ‘Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie’) are also shown.

The cartouche on this map of Asia features an Asian man smoking a long pipe, surrounded by packages, vases, a bow and arrow, a censer (incense burner) and a camel carrying a large load. The second sheet of the map features Southeast Asia.

This map uses colour to identify regions in late 18th century Southeast Asia, many of which roughly correspond to modern countries: Pegu=Myanmar, Tonkin/Cochin China=Vietnam, Lao =Laos, Siam=Thailand, Malaya=Malaysia, Philippin Islands=Philippines.