1788 Manuscript View of Georgetown, Penang Island, Malaysia

A remarkable, finely executed manuscript view of Georgetown, Penang Island, Malaysia. It was drawn in 1788, just 2 years after that critical colony's founding. This is most likely the earliest surviving image of Georgetown, the first British settlement in Southeast Asia and, by the early 19th century the center of the spice trade and the epicenter of British power in Southeast Asia.

A Closer Look

The view reveals the fledgling, but already prosperous, free port of Georgetown situated at the base of Penang Hill, which looms behind. The ship Carnatic dominates the foreground, allowing us to date the map to 1788, reflecting its first and only visit to Penang. Houses line the shore and the British Union Jack flies prominently at the point, behind a simple nibong palm stockade. This stockade, the precursor of Fort Cornwallis, was completed in 1789. By 1800 it was actively being transitioned to a stone fort, confirming our dating of the view.

The Carnatic, an East Indiaman

We believe the large East Indiaman in the foreground to be the Carnatic on its first voyage under Captain John Corner. The Carnatic left England on January 29, 1788, bound for Madras and China. It visited Materia on the 3rd of March, Madras on the 26th of June, and Penang (here) on the 24th of August. It arrived in China on October 15th, before returning to London via St. Helena, arriving on July 3rd. The ship's name is faintly discernable as Carnatic of London on the rear of the vessel. As this view was almost certainly drawn from life, we can firmly date the view to 1788, just 2 years after Georgetown's founding by Francis Light (c. 1740 - 1794).

Georgetown

Georgetown was founded on Pulo Penang (Penang Island), off the coast of Kedah, in the Malay peninsula by Francis Light (c. 1740 - 1794) in 1786. Light's mission was to establish trade relations with the Malay Peninsula. He befriended the Sultan of Kedah, who was at the time under threat from both Siam and Burma, as well as fending off an internal revolt. Believing the British to be more reliable allies, the sultan leased Penang Island to the British East India Company as trading center and Royal Navy Base. Light began building fortifications and a port. The colony was immediately prosperous and by 1792 had a population of 10,000, with some 3,500 ships arriving annually. As a stable free port, Georgetown became the center of the Southeast Asia spice trade. In 1826 it was made the capital of the Strains Settlements and by the end of the 19th century, the financial capital of Malaya. Penang eventually lost momentum as trade shifted to the larger and better situated colony of Singapore. Today Georgetown remains a prosperous multi-cultural town known for the some of the best food in Malaysia.

Publication History and Census

This view is a one-of-a-kind manuscript. We have identified no comparable or derivative pieces. Unique.