Antoine-Francois Prevost (French 1697-1763) was an early 18
th
century Benedictine monk who produced a great many works while he was unhappily sequestered in various monasteries in France and England. Known simply as Abbe Prevost, his work titled Histoire Generale des Voyages, ou Nouvelle Collection de Toutes les Relations de Voyages, par Mer et par Terre issued in 1746 was an expansive work referencing China, the East Indies, Asia, the Americas, early Australian voyages, New Guinea, Palau Islands, Africa, and voyages in the Pacific. All ll the views, and most of the maps, contained in Prévost’s giant work and were executed by Jacques Nicolas Bellin.

Copperplate engraving uncolored.
11 x 8 inches sheet.
Excellent condition.

Antoine-Francois Prevost (French 1697-1763) was an early 18
th
century Benedictine monk  who produced a great many works while he was unhappily sequestered in various monasteries in France and England. Known simply as Abbe Prevost, his work titled Histoire Generale des Voyages, ou Nouvelle Collection de Toutes les Relations de Voyages, par Mer et par Terre issued in 1746 was an expansive work referencing China, the East Indies, Asia, the Americas, early Australian voyages, New Guinea, Palau Islands, Africa, and voyages in the Pacific.  All ll the views, and most of the maps, contained in Prévost’s giant work and were executed by Jacques Nicolas Bellin.

Double page copperplate engraving uncolored.
14.5 x 11 inches sheet
Excellent condition.

Nankin, or Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu province in eastern China and was the capital of the country at several points in history. Located on the lower Yangtze River.
Vues d’optique (optical views) were created in Europe in the 18th century. They are highly colored engravings of cities that were shown through a viewing device (sometimes called a magic lantern) fitted with a mirror and a convex lens. The titles were printed on the sheets in reverse so that they would appear right side up when viewed. They were drawn with a one point linear perspective which when viewed through the machine created convincingly three dimensionality. Many of these machines were moved  from  place to place so that the owners could charge fees for public showings of the far flung places depicted. Since the engravings were not bound and very pulled in and out of the viewing machines, they usually show signs of wear.
Some vues d’optique such as this one had windows and doors in the buildings cut out and  the openings backed with translucent paper so that when the print was backlit, the scenes provided illuminated night views.
16 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches, sheet.
Engraving with original hand coloring.
Trimmed to plate mark.

Vues d’optique (optical views) were created in Europe in the 18th century. They are highly colored engravings of cities that were shown through a viewing device (sometimes called a magic lantern) fitted with a mirror and a convex lens. The titles were printed on the sheets in reverse so that they would appear right side up when viewed. They were drawn with a one point linear perspective which when viewed through the machine created convincingly three dimensionality. Many of these machines were moved  from  place to place so that the owners could charge fees for public showings of the far flung places depicted. Since the engravings were not bound and very pulled in and out of the viewing machines, they usually show signs of wear.

Nankin, or Nanjing or Nanjing.
Is the capital of Jiangsu province in eastern China and was the capital of the country at several points in history. Located on the lower Yangtze River.
Some vues d’optique such as this one had windows and doors in the buildings cut out and  the openings backed with translucent paper so that when the print was backlit, the scenes provided illuminated night views.
16 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches, sheet.
Engraving with original hand coloring.
Trimmed to plate mark.

A decorative and historically important print of the Macao Passage.

The Broadway expedition was a British military expedition that explored the river now known as XI River in Guangdong Province in 1841 during the First Opium War.  The river served as a passageway from the Portuguese colony of Macao to the city of Canton. This image shows a steamship flying the British flag pulled up to the dock. Junks,  European style sailing ships and sculls ply the waters.

13 ¼ x 19 ¾ inches, sheet.
Hand colored lithograph.
Various repairs made to verso in margins.
Stain in center of image and in right margin.