Northern and Southern Philippines Maps
Stunningly black and white copper engraved pair of Bellin’s maps of Northern and Southern Philippines. Hardly offered as a complete set, this is a unique uppertinuty for the Phillipines collector. Two of the most detailed maps of the period. Both include a large decorative title cartouche. Both maps are by the famous Jacques Nicolas Bellin
Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703 - 1772) was a French hydrographer, geographer, and member of the French intellectual group called the philosophes. Bellin was born in Paris. He was hydrographer of France's hydrographic office, member of the Academie de Marine and of the Royal Society of London. Over a 50 year career, he produced a large number of maps of particular interest to the Ministere de la Marine.
Very suitable for framing
The Philippines and France,
Relations between France and the Philippines had its roots since the Age of Exploration. When the Spanish expedition under Magellan reached the Philippines in 1521, 15 Frenchmen were among its crew. French missionaries also contributed to the spread of Christianity in the Philippines. The first Diocesan seminary in the Philippines, the seminary of St. Clement in Manila, was set up with the aid of French Monsignor Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon in 1704. French traders, technicians, soldiers, and officers and crews under the Manila Galleon trade also came to the Philippines. The French recognized the potentials of the Philippines in the trading sector by the 17th century.
France discovered the potential use of abaca in the manufacture of naval supplies, particularly ropes. Despite restrictions of Spanish colonial government's restrictions against foreign trade, French and other foreign traders were already in Manila before it was formally opened for foreign trade. Paris fashion became the standard in Manila. Foreign traders imported French products such as stockings, muslin and linen cloth, umbrellas, gloves and coats in the Philippines while the Filipinos exported most of its indigo to France.
France became the first country to establish a consul in Spanish Philippines in 1824, followed by Belgium, the United States and finally Great Britain in November 1844. Upon the opening of the Suez Canal, relations between the Philippines and European countries, including France, became more significant. Some rich and intellectual Filipinos came to France, which includes Jose Rizal, Felix Hidalgo and Juan Luna.
French congregations founded colleges in the Philippines, among these colleges were the Assumption College and Saint Paul College. French Liberalism also found its way to the Philippines which influenced the Filipino colonial government opposition, the reformists and the revolutionaries.
The revolutionaries of the Philippines sought France for support. In January 1897, the Philippine Commission in Hong Kong sent a petition to M. Henry Hannoteaux, Minister of Foreign Affairs, enumerating 50 points concerning the Philippine grievance against Spain and calling for France's assistance. In 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo also sent his delegate to Paris for the negotiation of an agreement, which concerned the fate of the Philippines in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War. Lastly, Filipino residents in Paris, urged by the Philippine government in exile in Hong Kong, made a commission calling for the recognition of the Republic. The commission was led by Pedro Roxas and Juan Luna.
However the Filipino revolutionaries failed to garner French support. France remained neutral and distanced itself from the Filipino revolutionaries as France respected Spain's sovereignty over the Philippines as a fellow colonial power.
