This item has been sold, but you can get on the Waitlist to be notified if another example becomes available, or purchase a digital scan.

1874 Sudo / Le Gendre Japanese Manuscript Map of South Taiwan / Formosa

TaiwanSouthLeGendre-sudo-1874
台灣南部之圖 / Map of the Southern Part of Taiwan. - Main View
Processing...

1874 Sudo / Le Gendre Japanese Manuscript Map of South Taiwan / Formosa

TaiwanSouthLeGendre-sudo-1874

Sudo manuscript map of south Formosa based upon Legendre. Part of a set.

Title


台灣南部之圖 / Map of the Southern Part of Taiwan.
  1874 (dated)     34 x 22.5 in (86.36 x 57.15 cm)     1 : 90000

Description


Part of Sudo Collection. Not sold Separately: Click here for full collection.

The largest of the two south Taiwan detail manuscript maps from the 1874 Sudo series. Like Sudo's large map of Formosa, the present example is derived from the work of the American Counsel to Qing Formosa, William (Guillaum) Joseph Émile Le Gendre (1830 - 1899), specifically his 1872 Southern Formosa. Le Gendre compiled this map on his second trip to the tribal lands of southern Taiwan in February and March of 1872. Le Gendre's southern Taiwan map survives only in manuscript and his housed today at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. The present map was compiled by Sudo in Tamusi, Mary 1874. The extensive classical Japanese textual annotation in the lower right quadrant details the 1871 Mudan Incident and the 1874 retaliatory Taiwan Punitive Expedition.

CartographerS


Sudo Katsuzō (湏藤 / 湏藤勝三; c. 1848 - c. 1874) was a Japanese cartographer of Tochigi Prefecture (栃木県 / Tochigi-ken), Japan. Sudo was part of an 1874 mission to Taiwan and subsequently to the mainland of China. As part of this expedition, he produced a series of maps detailing Taiwan and some major cities in Fujian, including Fuzhou and Xiamen. The quality and execution of the maps suggest that he was experienced in both western and Japanese cartographic styles, indicating that he may have had training as a military engineer. Sudo apparently died of an unknown illness shortly after the maps were made, at just 26, so it is not surprising that little is recorded regarding his history. His maps were subsequently collected by his brother and remained in the family until recently. More by this mapmaker...


Charles William (Guillaum) Joseph Émile Le Gendre (August 26, 1830 - September 1, 1899) was a French-American diplomat active in East Asia during the second part of the 20th century. Born in Ouillins, France, Le Gendres came from a well connect family and attended both the Royal College of Rheims and the University of Paris. Around 1854 Le Gendre married an American, Clara Victoria Mulock (daughter of William Murlock) and moved to New York. During the American Civil War he served honorably and, despite being gravely wounded and losing an eye, rose rapidly in rank. He was discharged in 1864 with the brevet title of Brigadier General. Shortly following the 1865 close of the War, Le Gendre was dispatched as the American consul to Amoy China, in charge of the port cities of Amoy, Keelung, Taiwanfoo, Tamsui, and Takao. In this position Le Gendre traveled extensively throughout the region, earning the respect of authorities both in China and America. When the crew of an American fishing vessel, the Rover, was killed by Taiwanese aborigines following a shipwreck in southern Formosa, Le Gendre traveled to Taiwan. While his general purpose was to ransom presumed hostages from the Rover as well as prevent future hostilities, his secondary mission was to reconnoiter the island for trade. His detailed mappings for Formosa were by far the most advanced to date and were used in government issue charts well into the 1960s. In 1872 Le Gendre resigned his post as American Consul to take a position in the service of the Emperor of Japan, becoming the first foreigner to be employed in a Japanese government position. Le Gendre remained in the position until 1890 when he left Japan for Korea, where he took another advisory post. He held a position with the King of Korea until his death in Seoul on September 1 of 1899. Learn More...

Condition


Very good. On thin Japanese paper. Manuscript.