1679 First Edition Tavernier Map of Japan with Sea of Korea

This is the large-format 1679 first edition of J. B. Tavernier's landmark map of Japan, eastern Korea, and the intervening sea, here named Sea of Korea (Mer de Coreer).

A Closer Look

The map focuses on the Japanese island Honshu and surrounding smaller islands. It includes a wealth of unique information, including cities, notes on mines, topography, and more. It further illustrates the fifty-three stations of the Great Tōkaidō Road (東海道), a major artery between Edo (Iedo, modern-day Tokyo) and Meaco (都, Kyoto). The Great Tōkaidō Road is of further significance to this map, as it illustrates the annual voyage from Nagasaki to Iedo undertaken by Dutch merchants to pay tribute to the Shogun. At the westernmost edge of the map, Korea (Coreer) is recognizable across a short strait from the 'The Kindgome of Salkock, site of the Dutch East India trading company ports at Nagasaki (Nangisaqvi) and Kagoshima (Tanegaxima)'. The sea between Japan and Korea is labeled Mer de Coreer'.

Quoting Cortazzi in Isles of Gold,

The map, which is on a fairly large scale, contains comments about the nature of the country. For instance, Ocasaqui (Okazaki, near Nagoya) is said to have the most beautiful women - 'C'est ou sont les plus belles femmes du pays.' Lake Bi wa is said to be where one can catch 'quantité de saumons.' Mount Fuji is described as 'Fusino-omma, montagne toujours couverte de neige.' An island, which could be Tsushima, off the coast of Kyushu is described as 'l'Isle ou on envoie la jeunesse, qui ne veut rien valoir et ou on les fait travailler par force, jusqu' a ce que leur proches les en retire' (the island where worthless youths are sent and made to work until their relations remove them)! Tavernier marked three places where there were alleged to be silver mines.

Sea of Korea vs. Sea of Japan

The sea between Japan and Korea, whose name, either the 'Sea of Korea,' 'East Sea,' or the 'Sea of Japan,' is here identified in favor of Korea ('Mer de Coreer'). Historically, Korea has used the term 'East Sea' since 59 B.C., and many books published before the Japanese annexed Korea make references to the 'East Sea' or 'Sea of Korea.' Over the centuries, neighboring and Western countries have identified Korea's East Sea using various terms. The St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences referred to the East Sea as 'Koreiskoe Mope' or 'Sea of Korea' in their 1745 map of Asia. Other seventeenth and 18th-century Russian maps alternate between 'The Sea of Korea' and 'The Eastern Ocean.' The 18th-century Russian and French explorers Adam Johan von Krusenstern and La Perouse called it the 'Sea of Japan,' a term that became popular worldwide. Nonetheless, the last official Russian map names the East Sea the 'Sea of Korea.' The name is currently still a matter of historical and political dispute between the countries.

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved by Jean-Louis Durant and published c. 1679 for the rare first edition of J. B. Tavernier's Recüeil de plusieurs relations et traitez singuliers et curieux, a companion volume to Les Six Voyages. This large-format map appeared only in the first edition, with subsequent editions of the popular work featuring a significantly reduced map. We see but one instance of the separate map in OCLC, located at Yale, but about 16 instances of the complete work in the 1679 edition.