This is an engraving of the Buddhist Monastery of Ablaikit and a map of the location of the ruins published in 1779.
The map shows the city of Ust-Kameno-Gorsk (Oskemen) in Kazakstan as are the Monastery ruins.
In the upper left is a map of the area of Kazakstan containing the ruins with the French title: Carte du Chemin de Ust-Kameno-Gorsk jusqu' aux Tuines d' Ablaikit which translates to Map of Ust-Kameno-Gorsk and Path to the Ruins of Ablaikit.
In the upper right is a map of the Monastery grounds with a title in French: Plan de l'Enceinte des Murs du Temple d'Ablaikit which translates to Map of the Temple Walls of Ablaikit.
In the bottom section is an image of the Monastery and Temple itself. In French is Plan du Temple which translates to Temple Map showing a plan of the inner temple. There is also a detailed image of the Monastery and Temple with the French title Elevation du Temple d'Ablaikit which translated to Elevation of the Temple of Ablaikit.
Below the map is the French title Plan des Environs et de L'Enceinte du Temple D'Ablaikit which translated to plan of the Temple and Surroundings of Ablaikit.
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin who lived from 1703 to 1772 was an important cartographer of the 18th century. He is understood as geographe de cabinet and a transitional mapmaker spanning the gap between 18th and early 19th century cartographic styles. His long career as Hydrographer and Ingénieur Hydrographe at the French Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine resulted in hundreds of high quality nautical charts of practically everywhere in the world. His work focuses on function and accuracy tending in the process to be less decorative than the earlier 17th and 18th century cartographic work. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bellin was always careful to cite his references and his scholarly corpus consists of over 1400 articles on geography prepared for Diderot's Encyclopedie. In addition to numerous maps and charts published during his lifetime, many of Bellin's maps were updated (or not) and published posthumously. He was succeeded as Ingénieur Hydrographe by his student, also a prolific and influential cartographer, Rigobert Bonne.
Jakob van der Schley who lived from 1715 to 1779 was a Dutch engraver and painter. He has engraved the maps and views of the maps of the Dutch edition of Prevost's Histoire General des Voyage.
