It’s a map in the middle of the 19th Century – published in 1865 – of the Japanese Mailan—Mainland. Now, on any current map of that part of the world, you will see the several islands of the Japanese archipelago arranged as they actually are, and they are certainly not in a straight line. However, for the purposes of this map, they’ve been made to fit in a straight line; so that the directions that might apply to one portion of the map don’t necessarily apply to another part of the map. From a visual standpoint, it’s gorgeous. It folds up and then folds back out. It’s very delicate. Uh, and to look at it and to try to connect one portion of the mapped area and today’s name for the, uh, city or body of water is a wonderful exercise.
For more details, view the catalog record: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/1688784
