First edition of Janvier’s decorative map of the world

Description

This beautiful double-hemisphere world map is from the first edition of Jean Lattré’s Atlas Moderne. It features an elaborate, large rococo-style title cartouche, with each hemisphere surmounted by its own title – Hemisphere Occidental and Hemisphere Oriental.

The map pre-dates Cook’s voyages and contains several cartographic myths, including:

• In North America, a large Sea of the West (M[er] de I’ouest) appears.
• The Sea of the West connects through a conjectured northwest passage (symbolised by dotted coastlines) to Hudson Bay.
• Greenland is connected to Alaska, with most of the joint coastline being conjectural.
• In the South Pacific, Davis Land (Terre de Davis) is depicted.
• In central South America, Lake Xarayes (L.[ac] Xarayas) is shown – one of the presumed gateways to El Dorado.
• To the north of Hokkaido (I.[le] Yedso), T.[erre] de Gama appears. To the south of it, T.[erre] de la Compag.[nie] is shown – a mapping mistake that resulted from misunderstanding and amalgamation of early Dutch explorers’ information pertaining to the coastlines of Sakhalin, the Kurils, and Hokkaido.

Further notable features encompass:

• The Great Lakes are clearly distinguishable.
• In the North Pacific, northwest of the Solomon Islands (I.s Salomon), a puzzling Barbados Island (I.[le] Barbados) is shown.
• In the South Pacific, only a hint of western coastline alludes to New Zealand (N.lle Zelande).
• Although there is a mention of Terres Antarctiques ou Australes, i.e. “Antarctic or Southern Lands”, just above the Antarctic Circle, no corresponding landmasses, not even speculative, are shown.
• Following the voyages and discoveries by Russian explorers and cartographers Yevreinov, Bering, and Chirikov, northeast Asia is depicted rather accurately, though the Anzhu Islands are represented by only a generic southern coastline.
• Hokkaido is named I.[le] Yedso, i.e. a spelling variant of its historical name of Ezo.
• The Great Wall of China appears.
• Australia is shown as New Holland (N.[ouve]lle Hollande), with New Guinea and Tasmania (Terre de Diemen) attached to it, and with its eastern and part of the southern coastlines highly conjectural.
• There is a second appearance of Terre de Diemen, in northern Australia.
• Northeastern Australia erroneously includes Terre du S.[aint] Esprit, i.e. "Land of the Holy Spirit", which, in 1606, is what Portuguese-Spanish explorer Pedro Fernandes de Queirós called what is today’s Vanuatu, believing he had discovered Terra Australis Incognita.

Engraved by Pierre-Philippe Choffard.

An elegant world map with plenty of curious cartographic detail to pore over.

Publication

Atlas moderne : ou, Collection de cartes sur toutes les parties du globe terrestre

Note: Image shows pagination annotation (N^o. 1.) in top right corner.

Condition

Very good.

Printed on watermarked paper, and issued folding, now flattened. Beautiful colouring in outline and to cartouches. Light soiling. Minor creasing in bottom corners. Professional repairs to two small worm tracks in the top blank margin and some minor chips and tears along the edges of the sheet.

Item #: 00756

US $850.00

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