Partie de la Terre ferme de l’Inde ou l’Empire du Mogol / Presqu’Isle de l’Inde deçà le Golfe de Bengala / Das übrige Asien. Fig. II. / Asie Moderne [Set of 3]
Three copperplate engravings with later hand-colouring, published in Paris, for Mallet’s Description de l’Univers.
The pair includes:
a) Partie de la Terre ferme de l’Inde ou l’Empire du Mogol—illustrating the northern and central Mughal dominions, 1685
Plate size: 6.30 x 3.74 in (16 x 9.5 cm)
Sheet size: 8.27 x 5.31 in (21 x 13.5 cm)
b) Presqu’Isle de l’Inde deçà le Golfe de Bengala—depicting Bengal, Orissa, and the Coromandel coastal regions, 1685
Plate size: 5.71 x 3.74 in (14.5 x 9.5 cm)
Sheet size: 8.07 x 5.51 in (20.5 x 14 cm)
c) Asie Moderne, Circa 1697–1700
Plate size: 6.10 x 4.13 in (15.5 x 10.5 cm)
Sheet size: 7.87 x 5.91 in (20 x 15 cm)
French letterpress on verso (first two); German/French titling on third, as issued.
India and Asia in Miniature—Three Maps by Alain Manesson Mallet, from the Mughal Empire to the Wider Asian World
These finely engraved maps by Alain Manesson Mallet form part of his influential Description de l’Univers, published in Paris between 1683 and 1685 and intended to introduce European readers to the geography, peoples, and polities of the world. Mallet’s engravings, though modest in scale, were renowned for their elegance, clarity, and pedagogical value, establishing a widely disseminated visual lexicon for regions that remained distant from the lived experience of most early modern Europeans.
The first map, Partie de la Terre ferme de l’Inde ou l’Empire du Mogol, captures the Mughal Empire at its height, presenting a simplified yet recognisable geography of northern India. Major cities and river systems are indicated, reflecting European awareness of the empire’s administrative sophistication and urban centres. Although derived from secondary sources, Mallet’s composition conveys a coherent picture of Mughal dominion, shaped by the reputation of the empire as a nexus of wealth, trade, and political order.
The second plate, Presqu’Isle de l’Inde deçà le Golfe de Bengala, turns attention to Bengal and the eastern littoral, a region of increasing commercial significance to European mercantile powers. The Coromandel Coast, long contested among Dutch, English, and French trading companies, is depicted in compact form, highlighting the maritime contours that structured early modern exchange.
The third plate, Asie Moderne (c. 1697–1700) expands the frame further, situating India within a broader Asian and global context. Rendered in a curvilinear projection, it reflects contemporary efforts to visualise the world as an interconnected whole rather than a collection of isolated regions.
Together, the three maps articulate a deliberate conceptual progression—from the Mughal imperial heartland to the contested maritime zones of the Indian littoral and finally to Asia conceived as an interconnected continental whole. Read as a group, they distil a late seventeenth-century European understanding of India into three complementary visual registers: imperial, commercial, and global. Each plate functions not only as a geographical summary but also as a cultural artefact of the Louis XIV era, shaped by pedagogy, statecraft, and expanding horizons of knowledge.
Alain Manesson Mallet, who served as Ingénieur du Roi under Louis XIV, was among the most influential producers of small-format maps in the seventeenth century. His work combined clarity, accessibility, and visual elegance, ensuring that Description de l’Univers became one of the most widely consulted geographical compendia of its age.
(Set of three)
NON-EXPORTABLE
This lot is offered at RESERVE
This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as reference for the condition of each lot.