"Hemisphere Occidental", Brion de la Tour/Desnos

The mapmaker devised an interesting method to depict the conflicting theories on the true nature of the Pacific coast of North America. Philip Buache's concepts, including the mythical Mer de l' Ouest and B. de l' Ouest with its Northwest Passage, are engraved in faint hachure and colored in yellow. While the ideas of Gerhard Freidrich Muller, which includes the fabled River of the West (R. de l' Ouest) connecting through a network of lakes into both Lake Superior and Hudson Bay, are shown by a solid line. There is no sign of Antarctica and the coastline of New Zealand is indistinctly shown. The oceans are filled with the tracks of the major explorations. The map is flanked by French text panels, which are separately pasted onto the sheet. With text, the sheet measures 18.9 x 11.1".

References: McGuirk #129.

Condition: A

On watermarked paper with minor printer's ink residue and an archivally repaired centerfold separation at bottom that does not enter map image.