Modern Day Taiwan is of course depicted as 'Formosa', and it is still coloured as for mainland China. The name Formosa dates from 1542, when Portuguese sailors sighted an uncharted island and noted it on their maps as 'Ilha' Formosa which means 'beautiful island.
The countries and the coastline are all hand coloured and the engraving of topographic features is extremely detailed. Overall the composition makes for a very pleasing image. The map was made at a time when British interests in the Far east were at their height. Edward Stanford (1827-1904), the publisher, was renown for his maps and in particular for his Geographical Establishment (est. 1857). He worked in partnership with with Saunders and A. K. Johnston as engravers on these 'library maps'.
Barry Ruderman[1] notes that Stanford became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and that he gained a reputation as a publisher of explorers. Also that the Stanford Range in British Columbia was named for him by John Palliser. Stanford was one of the first to really concentrate on maps of the Far Eastern Asia and Africa.
[1] https://www.raremaps.com/mapmaker/61/Edward_Stanford. Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps.
