ABSTRACT

This paper describes the survey of the Paracels organized by the British East India Company (EIC) in 1808 in the context of the late Enlightenment. It documents the preparatory work for and execution of the survey to show that it overturned the erroneous representations of the Paracels on maps and charts from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth century. Using new archival material, including ship’s journals, memoirs, and private letters, this paper examines details of this survey, including patronage networks and the role played by institutions to argue that the late Enlightenment was a period of transformation in the epistemology and methodology of geography.

摘要

本文描述了英国东印度公司 (EIC) 于 1808 年在启蒙运动后期组织的对西沙群岛的调查。它记录了调查的准备工作和执行情况，以表明它推翻了 16 世纪至 19 世纪初地​​图和海图上西沙群岛的错误表述。本文使用新的档案材料，包括船舶日志、回忆录和私人信件，检查了这项调查的细节，包括赞助网络和机构所扮演的角色，以论证晚启蒙运动是地理学认识论和方法论的转型时期.