Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Islas Filipinas (Spanish, lit. "Hydrographical and Chorographical Chart of the Philippine Islands"), more commonly known as the Velarde map, is a map of the Philippines made and first published in Manila in 1734 by the Jesuit cartographer Pedro Murillo Velarde , the engraver Nicolás de la Cruz Bagay, and the artist Francisco Suárez.[2][3] The World Digital Library describes it as the "first and most important scientific map of the Philippines".[4] It is frequently referred to as the "Mother of all Philippine Maps".[5][1][6]
During the British occupation of Manila between 1762 and 1764, the copper plates used to print the map were seized and transported to England, where they were used to produce multiple copies of the map.[7] Many copies from this reprinting later sold at very high prices as antiquities.