"[Lot of 2] Hemisphere Occidental [and] Hemisphere Oriental", Brion de la Tour/Desnos

Pair of very attractive hemisphere maps, each surrounded in a rococo style border that was printed from a separate copper plate. In the Western Hemisphere, Brion has devised an ingenious way to show the competing theories of the Pacific Northwest. One hypothesis is engraved in dotted lines and colored in green, and another version, engraved in hachure and colored in yellow, shows the Sea of the West and Northwest Passage. In the Eastern Hemisphere, Australia is partially mapped and then completed into an odd shape by hachures connecting Tasmania and New Guinea. Both maps include numerous explorers' routes and important recent discoveries.

References: McGuirk #129.

Condition: B+

Original color with faint toning along centerfolds, else very good