VUE & DESCRIPTION DE LA VILLE DE SIAM . . .

A copper engraved sheet with set of 9 decorative views of Thailand, including the king of Siam riding on his elephant. A very decorative item ! - It features the capital Ayutthaya of Siam with majestic pagodas, a great number of exotic sea-faring vessels (some designated for royalty) of different kinds plying their way on seas and other waterways. , replete with all his vestments.
An illustration in the center features plants which were considered to have almost magical qualities in the West, such as ginseng and betel. Elephants equipped to carry 'a princess' and 'a stranger' are drawn in great detail, and in the final illustration we see a mandarin standing in front of a monastery.
This impressive engraving is a wonderful example of Chatelain’s elegant plates. Exhaustive information about each scene is given in lengthy tables.

Zacharie Chatelain (d.1723) was the father of Henri Abraham (1684-1743) and Zacharie Junior (1690-1754). They worked as a partnership publishing the 'Atlas Historique, Ou Nouvelle Introduction A L’Histoire' … under several different Chatelain imprints, depending on the Chatelain family partnerships at the time of publication.
The atlas was published in seven volumes between 1705 and 1720, with a second edition appearing in 1732. The maps were accompanied by information pertaining to cosmography, geography, history, chronology, genealogy, topography, heraldry, and costume of the world.