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Description

Very Rare Late State

Great two-sheet map of Scotland, showing the northern part of Great Britain from Durham north to the Orkneys, based upon the surveys and Timothy Pont and updates for the recent surveys of Robert Gordon.

Fabulously decorated in the Sanson style typical of the mid-17th century, the map includes a remarkable amount of detail showing the many hills, rivers, lochs, towns, and more of the low and highlands.

The split between the upper and the lower sheet occurs near Lochaber and Aberdeen, with minor overlapping regions. Each map includes its own scale bar and cartouche. In all, a great 17th-century representation of Scotland.

Rarity

The 2-sheet map is scarce, but this set, dated 1740 and 1741, is especially so.

Nicolas Sanson Biography

Nicholas Sanson (1600-1667) is considered the father of French cartography in its golden age from the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-eighteenth. Over the course of his career he produced over 300 maps; they are known for their clean style and extensive research. Sanson was largely responsible for beginning the shift of cartographic production and excellence from Amsterdam to Paris in the later-seventeenth century.

Sanson was born in Abbeville in Picardy. He made his first map at age twenty, a wall map of ancient Gaul. Upon moving to Paris, he gained the attention of Cardinal Richelieu, who made an introduction of Sanson to King Louis XIII. This led to Sanson's tutoring of the king and the granting of the title ingenieur-geographe du roi

His success can be chalked up to his geographic and research skills, but also to his partnership with Pierre Mariette. Early in his career, Sanson worked primarily with the publisher Melchior Tavernier. Mariette purchased Tavernier’s business in 1644. Sanson worked with Mariette until 1657, when the latter died. Mariette’s son, also Pierre, helped to publish the Cartes générales de toutes les parties du monde (1658), Sanson' atlas and the first French world atlas.