"Mappe-Monde Dresse sur les Observations de Mrs. de l'Academie Royale des Sciences et Quelques Autres et sur les Memoires les Plus Recens", Delisle/Covens & Mortier

Although the title cartouche attributes this map to Delisle, it is actually a later state of a map by Mortier that was based on Sanson's work, and thus this new connection to Delisle is likely due to the updates that were made to the map. Covens & Mortier have erased the partial coastline of the great Southern Continent, however it still remains slightly visible. The tracks of major explorers and their discoveries are charted throughout the oceans, now with the addition of early 18th century voyages, including Halley. Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand are only partially delineated, and Australia is still nearly connected to New Guinea. In addition, Terre de la Compagnie still appears to the northeast of Japan. In the western hemisphere, Greenland is shown attached to Canada, and South America slants too far to the west. California is correctly depicted as a peninsula, however there is a partial coastline to the west with the notation that the land was discovered by Jean de Gama on his voyage from China to New Spain.

The elegantly engraved title cartouche features female representations of the continents balanced by a ribbon-style banner. Covens & Mortier's imprint appears in a decorative cartouche at bottom featuring sea monsters and mer-men, with a lovely seascape and sailing ships behind them. In addition, four polar projections fill the corners of the sheet, with partial outlines of Antarctica shown in the southern projections at left. A very lovely and rare map that features a wealth of cartographic information.

References: cf. Shirley #581.

Condition: B+

A sharp impression on a bright sheet with a "WM" watermark. There are professional repairs to chips and tears along the far right and left sides of the sheet, with seamless facsimile work of small portions of the image.