Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms

original: 海國圖志 (Hǎiguó Túzhì)

Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms original: 海國圖志, written by the scholar Wei Yuan during the Qing Dynasty. This work focuses on maritime geography and is presented here in the format of a traditional thread-bound book.

The front cover of the volume features a calligraphic title slip original: 題簽 (tiqian)—a strip of paper pasted onto the dark blue cover—which is a classic hallmark of Qing Dynasty bookbinding. This work is historically significant as the most comprehensive study of Western geography and military technology available in China at the time, written in response to the First Opium War to help the empire understand and defend against foreign powers.