"Mappemonde a l'Usage du Roy...", Delisle/Buache

This impressive large double-hemisphere map is based on the work of Delisle, with the latest discoveries of the previous 30 years, as mentioned in the cartouche at bottom. The routes of numerous explorers are depicted, including Magellan (1520), Mendanna (1595), Quiras (1605), Le Maire (1615), Tasman (1642), St. Louis (1708), and Antoine (1710). The western portion of North America is still largely blank with the exception of a large Sea of the West (Mer de l'Ouest). A broken coastline continues to the northwest with several notes of explorers' discoveries and a misshapen Alaska named Presqu'Isle du Nord Ouest. In the eastern hemisphere, Hokkaido is named Ieso and is still misshapen with a conjectural western coastline. Just to the east of Hokkaido are the islands of I. des Etats and T. de la Compagnie, based on the reports of Maarten Gerritsz de Vries in 1643, as well as Kiaytuo ou T. de Gama based on the reports of João da Gama in 1589. Australia and New Zealand are only partially mapped, and Australia extends north to New Guinea. Above the map is a decorative cartouche featuring the French coat of arms surrounded by allegorical figures representing the four continents. This is the first state and typically appeared in composite atlases by Buache.

References: McGuirk #44.

Condition: A

A sharp impression on a bright sheet with the watermark of a Maltese cross encircled in rosary beads. There is very minor marginal soiling and remnants of hinge tape on verso.