Help us protect our rare world map
The 400-year-old Kunyu Wanguo Quantu, or ‘Map of the Ten Thousand Countries of the Earth’, in our Collections is one of only two known complete examples in the world.
Give today to ensure the map survives for another 400 years.
What makes this map unique?
Made in c.1644, the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu is the first Chinese map to have been made in a Western style. At nearly 2 metres high and 4 metres wide, it is a remarkable example of global cultural and intellectual exchange in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The map centres China and the Pacific and was created by Chinese scholars and artisans after interactions with Western-style maps and geographical ideas, particularly those brought to China by Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci in the late 1500s.
The map has been a treasure in our Collections for nearly 170 years and is one of our oldest maps. It was donated in 1858 by Dr William Lockhart, a missionary and surgeon who served in China. Since the 1930s, it has hung in the Map Room for people to study and enjoy.
Preserving the map for future generations
This March, expert conservators examined the map. Urgent repairs and preventative steps to stabilize the paper and pigments are needed.
We need your help to ensure the map survives for another 400 years.
Undertaking conservation now will secure the map’s long-term preservation and continued display, supporting future research, interpretation, and wider understanding of this significant work of cartographic history.
