1849 Coello Map of the Philippines (Luzon, Mindoro)

A stunning 1849 Francisco Coello map of the Philippine Islands. This map is considered the first scientific topographical map of the Philippines and the most important map of the Philippines to appear in the 19th century. Of the three maps Coello prepared of the Philippines, this is the most important, covering the archipelago from northern Luzon to southern Mindoro, covering all of Luzon and Mindoro, as well as parts of Isla Han Smaar, Masbate and numerous smaller islands. In additional to the main map, there are 11 insets, including detailed maps of the City of Manila, Manila Bay, and Cavite and Bacoor Bay, among others.

This map is the culmination of nearly a century of Spanish survey work in the Philippines. Coello, and his partner, the geographer Antonio Morata, carefully assembled the various surveys, into this, a composite map of the region based exclusively on scientific survey work. The completed map was unprecedented it size and detail and the foundation for all subsequent mapping of the region until the end of the19th century. It was used in treaty negotiations by both sides for both the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine-American War (1899-1902). In addition, it provides the essential cartographic data for several important subsequent maps, inlcluidng Anselmo Ollero’s Carta Itineraria de la Isla de Luzon (1882) and Ramon Prats’ Islas Filipinas (1887).

This map was issued as part of Coello's opus, the Atlas de España y sus posesiones de Ultramar. The atlas, conceived jointly by Coello and Morata and issued in parts from about 1848 onwards, was a wildly ambitions project consisting of large format separately issued maps of all parts of Spain and her few remaining overseas possessions. Due to Coello's death and the disruption of the Spanish American War, the Atlas was never completed. Nonetheless, by the time of Coello's death in 1898, some 46 parts were published. This map of the Philippines is one of the first maps Coello issued for the atlas, appearing, in 1849, just one year into the production of the ambitious Atlas de España.