1914 'Missions Pavie' General Map of Southeast Asia: Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam
Indochine-pavie-1914$3,250.00
Title
Indo-Chine Carte de la Mission Pavie.
1914 (dated) 43.5 x 33 in (110.49 x 83.82 cm) 1 : 20000000
1914 (dated) 43.5 x 33 in (110.49 x 83.82 cm) 1 : 20000000
Description
This is the 1914 edition of the general map illustrating Southeast Asia, comprising modern-day Thailand (Siam), Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The focus is the theater of the Missions Pavie, a series of groundbreaking espionage, reconnaissance, and political expeditions led by the eccentric adventurer Auguste Jean-Marie Pavie from 1879 to 1895.
A Closer Look
The map includes most of Southeast Asia north of the Malay Peninsula, with coverage embracing from Hunan, China, to Phuket (Thailand), and from the Mergui Archipelago Hainan, China, thus including most of Thailand (Siam) and all of Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. When this map was issued, much of the territory east of Saim was increasingly falling under the sway of French Indo-China - here outlined in pink. The French presence and ongoing military activity led to rapid and significant advances in regional cartography throughout the first decades of the 20th century - as represented here..Missions Pavie
The 'Missions Pavie' (1879 - 1895) were a series of groundbreaking expeditions spanning some sixteen years into the little-known interior of Southeast Asia. The missions were instigated, led, and organized by the dynamic French explorer/diplomat Auguste Jean-Marie Pavie (1847 - 1925), known euphemistically as 'L'Explorateur aux Pieds Nus' ('The Barefoot Explorer') for his adoption of traditional Southeast Asian dress and customs. Collectively, the 'Missions Pavie' explored the largely unmapped inland territory between Siam (Thailand) and French Indochina (Vietnam), including much of modern-day Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. They were an extraordinary achievement, not only for their scope, scholarship, and accuracy, but also for the positive relationships they built with the peoples encountered - generally setting the stage for a peaceful transition to French regional hegemony.- 1879 - 1885 - Cambodia and Southeastern Siam as far as Bangkok
- 1886 - 1889 - Northeastern Laos and the Black River as far as Hanoi
- 1889 - 1891 - The Mekong River from Saigon to Luang Prabang
- 1894 - 1895 - The Laos-China-Burma border on the left bank of the Mekong to the Red River
Publication History and Census
This map was first published in 1895. The present example is the 1914 edition, featuring significant updates reflecting increased French colonial activity in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The map follows on the work of Auguste Jean-Marie Pavie from 1879 to 1895. It was compiled for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Colonies by Pierre-Paul Cupet (1859-1907), Jean-Baptiste Friquegnon (1858-1934), and Joseph de Malglaive (1862-1914), all officers in the French Army and members of the Pavie Mission. It was engraved by R. Hausermann and printed in Paris by Gaillac-Monrocq. It was published, as were all Missions Pavie maps, by Augustin Challamel. We are aware of five editions, though there may be more, all significantly different: 1895, 1902, 1909, 1914 (present map), and 1922. Of this 1914 edition, we see only one other example in an institutional catalog at the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg. Other editions are somewhat more widely dispersed among European and American libraries. However, all are exceedingly rare on the market with no identifiable history.CartographerS
Auguste Jean-Marie Pavie (May 31, 1847 - June 7, 1925) was a French civil servant, explorer, and diplomate active in Southeast Asia in the late 19th and early 20th century. Pavie was born in Dinan, Brittany, the son of a cabinetmaker. As a young man he had a thirst for travel and adventure, joining the army in 1864, at age 17. By 1869 he was in Cochinchina (Vietnam) with the Troupes de Marine. He returned briefly to France to fight the Franco-Prussian War (1870 - 1871) but was back in Indochina by late 1871. He was posted to the telegraph station at Kampot, Cambodia, where he remained until about 1879. During this time, he 'went native', wearing local clothing and mastering Cambodian. In 1879, he caught the attention of Charles Le Myre de Vilers (1833 - 1918), governor of Cochinchina. Le Myre de Vilers assigned him to the first of what would become known collectively as the 'Missions Pavie' (1879 - 1895), a series of groundbreaking expeditions spanning some 16 years into the little-known interior of Southeast Asia:
- 1879 - 1885 - Cambodia and Southern Siam as far as Bangkok
- 1886 - 1889 - Northeastern Laos and the Black River as far as Hanoi
- 1889 - 1891 - The Mekong River from Saigon to Luang Prabang
- 1894 - 1895 - The Laos-China-Burma border on the left bank of the Mekong to the Red River.
Jean Baptiste Marius Augustin Challamel (March 18, 1818 - October 20, 1894) was a French historian, editor, and publisher active in Paris in the mid to late 19th century. Challamel is best known as a historian. Even so, although prolific, his personal work more often falls into pop-history and has little originality or merit. More significantly, Challamel also founded Challamel et Cie., a publishing house at 5 Rue Jacob. From this location, Challamel published extensively for French colonial interests in Africa, Asia, Indochina, and Polynesia. His work includes some of the most significant works documenting late 19th century French scientific discoveries, navigation, cartography, and scholarship. He held the contract for official French colonial office printings, including for the Bureau Topographique and the Service Geographique. Although Challamel died in 1894, his firm continued to operate until the 1920s. His heirs, operating under the same name, moved tore 17 Rue Jacob and renamed their firm Librairie Maritime et Coloniale, Augustin Challamel, Editeur. Learn More...
Jean Noël Monrocq (December 25, 1819 - February 18, 1913) was a French printer and bookseller active in Paris in the mid to late 19th century. Monrocq was born on Chrismtas day, hence his name, in Trelly, La Manche, the son of a farmer. In 1839 he moved to Paris for a more urban lifestyle. Although he had little formal education, he found work with the Parisian book and print seller Delarue. Meating some success, he opened his own print shop in 1848. He initially applied for a booksellers patent in 1853, but the application was initially rejected. It was formally approved in 1877. In 1859, he received a lithographers patent for artistic and industrial prints for education purposes. He took over the presses of Louis Etienne Stanislas Petit in 1859, but did not relieve a formal intaglio imprint until 1865. In March 1874, he established a branch of his lithographic printing press in Ivry, Rue de Vitry, where he moved part of his equipment. He became known for zincographic lithography - the process of etching plates into zinc, which he claimed falsely to have invented. He did nonetheless, contributed significantly to the industrialization of the printing with zinc plates. Being cheap, simple to make, easy to modify, zinc plates became the standard for news printing. Zincography under Monrocq was also ideally suited to map production. The Monrocq produced a significant corpus of maps. The firm spearheaded the movement to centralize map production in France. The firm continued well after his death, issuing maps for both Hachette Taride. For a long time, his son, Léon Monrocq (1857 - 1902) worked with him specifically printing maps, unfortunately he died young. The firm for a time was operated by the founder's son-in-law, who took the name Gaillac-Monrocq. Jean Noël Monrocq's grandson Lucien Monrocq, eventually took over the publishing arm of the firm. Learn More...
Rémy Hausermann (1843 - 1933) was a French map engraver who, among other roles, was the main engraver for the Missions Catholiques de Lyon, allowing him to introduce the geography of areas previously little known or unknown to a European audience. Little is known about his early life and training, but by 1879 he was the Vice President of the Congrès des Sciences géographiques. He was well-known and well-regarded in geographical study circles in the late 19th century, writing school textbooks on the subject and receiving accolades at the 1878 exposition universelle in Paris. Learn More...
Condition
Very good. Overall toning. Original linen stable. Folds into original slipcase.
References
Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg, CARTE.912.597,8.