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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.

In the 18th century, European maps tended to use their own country’s meridian, so on this French map of Southeast Asia longitude is measured from the Paris Meridian. Eleven different scales are also shown.

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.

Map of the Indian Ocean showing the currents (represented by arrows) and winds (represented with letters A to F) during the monsoon seasons. Three routes—one old and two new—from the Isle de France (Mauritius) east to the Strait of Malacca are shown.

Map of the Indian Ocean showing the currents (represented by arrows) and winds (represented with letters A to F) during the monsoon seasons. Three routes—one old and two new—from the Isle de France (Mauritius) east to the Strait of Malacca are shown.

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 on this map show the kingdoms of mainland Southeast Asia and the Philippines. Arrows marked on the sea to the west of the Philippines indicate wind direction during the monsoon seasons (with the months marked in French).

The arrows on this map mark the direction of the seasonal monsoons experienced around the Sunda and Maluku Islands (mainly modern Indonesia) during the late 18th century. Each arrow has a label in French, indicating the month.

The arrows on this map mark the direction of the seasonal monsoons experienced around the Sunda and Maluku Islands (mainly modern Indonesia) during the late 18th century. Each arrow has a label in French, indicating the month.

Map of the Banda Islands—which was at this time the only source of nutmeg in the world—featuring mountains, plantations, settlements and a military fort. On the island of Gunnanapi (Banda Api) a volcano erupts (‘api’ means ‘fire’ in Indonesian).

A page from Abbé Prévost’s ‘Histoire Générale des Voyages’. The top map shows the Bay of Laphao on Timor, while the other drawings are side views (or ‘elevations’) of mountains on the region’s islands to use as landmarks when navigating.

The many navigation aids marked on this map, including bathymetry (sea depth), anchor points, shoals, and elevations of hills, were designed to guide ships around this part of the west coast of Timor. The Dutch fort Concordia is also marked.