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Guillaume De L'Isle:  Carte Du Mexique et de la Floride des Terres Angloises et des Isles Antilles du Cours et des Environs de la Riviere Mississipi . . . 1703




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Title: Carte Du Mexique et de la Floride des Terres Angloises et des Isles Antilles du Cours et des Environs de la Riviere Mississipi . . . 1703

Map Maker: Guillaume De L'Isle

Place / Date: Paris / 1708

Coloring: Hand Colored

Size: 25.5 x 19 inches

Condition: VG

Price: $3,200.00

Inventory ID: 26658


Description:

Scarce first edition, third state of Guillaume De L'Isle's landmark map, the first printed map to accurately depict the course and mouth of the Mississippi River.

De L'Isle's Carte du Mexique . . .  is drawn from the reports brought back to France from the survivor's of the La Salle expedition into the interior of North America and from information derived from the explorations of Bienville and d'Iberville.  In the year preceding the publication of the map,  De L'Isle utilized his position with the King of France to gain access to the best available information from teh new world.  During this time period he acciduously compiled the geographical data from the reports of the French Jesuit Missionaries and Explorerers in North America, along with Spanish manuscript maps (often copied by the Missionaries while they were acting in the service of the Spanish as spiritual guides and gaining their confidence).   The result of this work were a series of landmark maps of the North America, including his map of North America (L'Amerique Septentrionale, 1700), Canada and the Great Lakes (Carte du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France 1703) and  the Mississippi Valley & Gulf Coast (Carte de la Louisiane et du Cours du Mississipi 1708).

Carl Wheat called the map a "towering landmark along the path of Western cartographic development."  De L'Isle's map also includes greater accuracy in the Great Lakes region and in its depiction of English settlements along the East Coast.  Excellent detail of the Indian villages in East Texas, based upon the reports of Iberville and the Spanish missionaries.  The best depiction of the Southwest to date, with early trails & Indian tribes. Cumming described the map as "profoundly influential.

The first edition bears De L'Isle's first address on Rue Des Canettes, which was later changed to Quai de l'Horloge Couronne de Diamans and the imprint of Renard in the second state.   In the third state, the Couronne de Diamans and Renard imprint are removed and the engraver's name (Simoneau) appears. 

One of the most important and influential maps of the region during the early 18th Century.


Condition Description: Very minor soiling


Related Categories:
Maps of Mexico
Maps of Midwest America
Maps of the American Plains
Maps of the Rocky Mountains
Maps of the American South
Maps of Southeast America
Maps of Southwest America
Maps of Texas
Maps of the United States