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Description

Nice example of the unrecorded first 1776 state of Lattre's rare 2-sheet map of the British Colonies in Norht America, published in Paris, focusing on the Theater of War in America.

First published in 1776, the 1783 edition of Lattre's map is one of the first printed maps to include the name United States ("Etats-Unis") in the title. First published in 1771, the map initially had the words "La Nouvelle Angleterre" (New England) in the title, which is replaced with "Etats-Unis" in the 1783 edition.

The map was updated in 1776. All examples of the 1776 we have identified include the words "Theatre de la Guerre en Amerique" at top sheet. This example does not include these words.

The first state of the map is typically found bound as two separate maps in the Atlas Moderne. Ashley Baynton Williams states in Mapforum that an edition of 1762 exists, but we believe this is in error. Ashley Baynton Williams suggests that two states of the 1783 edition exist, with the difference being that the second edition includes the name United States in an abbreviated title above the top neat line of the lower sheet (a difference which would not be observable in a joined example).

This is the first time we have ever seen this state of the 1776 edition on the market.

Condition Description
Old Color. 2-sheets joined, as issued. Very wide margins. Minor soiling.
Rigobert Bonne Biography

Rigobert Bonne (1727-1794) was an influential French cartographer of the late-eighteenth century. Born in the Lorraine region of France, Bonne came to Paris to study and practice cartography. He was a skilled cartographer and hydrographer and succeeded Jacques Nicolas Bellin as Royal Hydrographer at the Depot de la Marine in 1773. He published many charts for the Depot, including some of those for the Atlas Maritime of 1762. In addition to his work at the Depot, he is  best known for his work on the maps of the Atlas Encyclopedique (1788) which he did with Nicholas Desmarest. He also made the maps for the Abbe Raynals’ famous Atlas de Toutes Les Parties Connues du Globe Terrestre (1780).

More than his individual works, Bonne is also important for the history of cartography because of the larger trends exemplified by his work. In Bonne’s maps, it is possible to see the decisive shift from the elaborate decorations of the seventeenth century and the less ornate, yet still prominent embellishments of the early to mid-eighteenth century. By contrast, Bonne’s work was simple, unadorned, and practical. This aesthetic shift, and the detail and precision of his geography, make Bonne an important figure in mapping history.

Jean Lattré Biography

Jean Lattré (fl. 1743-1793) was a Parisian bookseller and engraver who published many maps, plans, globes, and atlases. He worked closely with other important French cartographers, including Janvier, Bonne, and Delamarche, as well as other European mapmakers, such as William Faden, Santini, and Zannoni. Lattré is also interesting due to his propensity to bring suits against those who copied his work; plagiarism was common practice in eighteenth-century cartography and mapmakers struggled to maintain proprietary maps and information.