Catalog Archive
Auction 172, Lot 22

"Nouveaux Mappemonde ou Globe Terrestre avec des Tables et des Remarques pour Conduire a la Connoissance de la Geographie et de l'Histoire", Chatelain, Henry Abraham

Subject: World

Period: 1720 (circa)

Publication: Atlas Historique

Color: Hand Color

Size:
26.3 x 18.2 inches
66.8 x 46.2 cm
Download High Resolution Image
(or just click on image to launch the Zoom viewer)

This bold world map from Chatelain’s monumental, seven-volume atlas combines a wealth of information and geographical observations. The two hemispheres are divided into a grid with a corresponding key to the tables surrounding the map, which identifies the locations of principal cities, mountains, rivers, lakes, islands, and other geographical features. The routes of prominent explorers are traced with the dates of their voyages. Australia and New Guinea are joined into one large landmass with only the southern tip of Tasmania outlined.

North America is still vastly unexplored with an uncharted western coastline. This map shows California as a peninsula, in contrast to Chatelain’s renowned Carte Tres Curieuse from the same atlas that depicts it as an island. The Atlas Historique was published between 1705 and 1720 when the question of California’s insularity was hotly contested among leading cartographers. It was common practice for publishers to present both versions of the controversy.

References:

Condition: A

A crisp impression, issued folding on a bright sheet with a few minor fold separations that have been professionally repaired.

Estimate: $900 - $1,100

Sold for: $500

Closed on 4/17/2019

Archived