Highlights

The 15th century map in a manuscript is on loan from the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. Kitab surat al-ard, or Book of the Configuration of the Land, was written in the 10th century by Arab traveller and geographer Ibn Hawqal.

The world map depicts the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, with the Islamic world in the centre, and is oriented with the south at the top.

The folded book map was drawn with ink and colour on paper in the 18th century, and was stored in China's Office of Imperial Diaries, its national archives. It shows Qing Emperor Qianlong on his third eastern imperial tour over two months, which took him along the Great Wall of China to imperial ancestral graves in Mukden, Yenden and the Eternal Tombs in Manchuria. It is written in Manchu and Mandarin Chinese and must be read temporally, with each fold representing a day of his trip.

The 19th century map, on loan from a private collection in France, focuses on Tonkin in northern Vietnam. The depiction of French flags in cities across Tonkin makes it a rare example of a Vietnamese map influenced by French colonisation.

Latin romanised characters accompany the Sino-Vietnamese script, indicating that the map was adapted for use by the French, possibly to gain knowledge of local terrain.

This 1895 Joseon Dynasty map presents a 360-degree worm's-eye view - looking outwards from the centre - of Seoul, as opposed to a more conventional bird's-eye view. It also features mountains surrounding Seoul, as well as royal palaces and grounds. It is on loan from the MacLean Collection, Illinois, in the United States.

Dating back to Japan's Edo period between 1603 and 1867, this map takes reference from Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci's 1602 world map Kunyu Wanguo Quantu, created in China.

It is on loan from the Yokohama City University Library and Information Centre.