The Selden map is a magnificent artifact of the age of long-distance trading empires and overseas colonies. And yet it does not show us the world as we expect to see it. This is not a map of late Ming China as a territory, nor a celebration of the Middle Kingdom, though the mapmaker carefully outlines its provinces. Nor does it trace the pathways by which Europeans made inroads into Asia. Filled with Chinese characters and occasional annotations in Latin, the map delineates a different story.
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