L’ Indocina (India Transgangetica) e le isole Filippine [Indochina beyond the Ganges and the Philippine Islands]

Description

original hand-colour steel engraving.

RARE map from ‘Geografia Commerciale’, engraved by Cesare Magrini, Genova. This striking and highly detailed map by the prominent Italian geographer and political activist Francesco Costantino Marmocchi (1805-1858) covers the region known today as Southeast Asia, including present-day Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Created for a broader atlas intended to educate on global geography, it bears the top inscription “Geografia Commerciale,” underscoring its focus on commercial geography, trade routes, and European colonial interests during an era of global exploration and expansion. Rendered at a scale of 1:11,200,000, the map utilizes outline colour to clearly differentiate political boundaries as understood from mid-19th century European perspectives, alongside hachures to illustrate topographical relief. Detailed labels highlight strategic cities—such as Manila—along with key regions and natural features, making it a functional and visually compelling reflection of the geopolitical dynamics, economic potential, and cartographic techniques of its time.