A well-rounded French composite atlas of the world, including primarily maps by Guillaume Delisle, as issued by his protégé and son-in-law Philippe Buache in the middle of the 18th century. The maps bear dates from 1700 to 1764 (Carte de France... Et augmentée en 1764. par Phil. Buache...), and cover the world, Europe, Asia (four maps), Africa (four maps), and the Americas (six maps, including North America, Canada, and Mexico), finishing with a suite of 12 maps of the ancient world.
Some of the maps have been updated with the addition of Buache's imprint in the lower right corner, which he frequently added in 1745.
The map of North America (L'Amerique Septentrionale...) is in its 6th (of 7) state, before Delisle's title is changed to '... Prem.r Geographe du Roy ...'. The map of Canada (Carte du Canada...) is in its 5th (of 10) state, before Delsile's title is changed in the aforementioned manner, but after Renard's imprint has been crudely erased. These states date the printing of these maps to the 1710s, which is interesting given what we know about the date of compilation of the atlas.
Provenance
Engraved bookplate, printed in sepia, of Frédéric Grand d'Hauteville (1873-1944), who was a French doctor of note during the beginning of the 20th century, including during the First World War. He was Vice-President of the Bern Committee for Assistance to Prisoners of War (1915-1918), Médecin de la Reconnaissance Française, and Doctor of King Albert I of Belgium.
List of Maps
- Mappemonde a l'usage du Roy
- Hemisphere Septentrionale pour voir plus distnictement Les Terres Arctiques
- Hemisphere Meridional pour voir plus distntinctement Les Terres Australes
- L'Europe
- Les Isles Britanniques
- Carte des Courones du Nord dediee au Tres Puissantet Tres Invincible Prince Charles XII (in two parts)
- (Part II)
- Carte Royaume de Danemarc
- Carte de Moscovie (in two parts)
- (Part II)
- Carte de France
- Carte de la Prevoste et Vicomte de Paris
- Carte Topographique du Diocese de Senlis
- Carte du Diocese de Beauvais
- Partie Meridionale de Picardie
- Carte de la Champagne et des Pays Voisins ou l'on voit la Generalite de Chalons partie de celle de Soissons &c.
- Partie Meridionale de Champagne
- Partie Septentrionale du Duche de Bourgogne
- Partie Meridionale du Duche de Bourgogne
- Carte Bourdelois du Perigord
- Carte de Normandie
- Carte de Provence et des Terres Adjacentes
- Le Dauphine divise en ses Pricinpales Parties
- Gouvernement General du Languedoc
- Carte du Bearn de la Bigorre de L'Armagnac et des Pays Voisins
- Carte du Diocese de Narbonne
- Carte du Diocese de Beziers
- Carte des Pays Bas Catholiques
- Carte d'Artios et des Environs
- Carte du Comte de Flandre
- Carte des Comtez, de Hainaut, de Namur, et de Cambresis
- Carte du Brabant
- Carte des Provinces Unies des Pays Bas
- L'Allemagne
- Carte de Suisse
- Carte de Lac de Geneve
- Carte de L'Isle et Royaume de Sicile
- Le Cours du Rhin au dessus de Strasbourg et les Pais adjacens
- Le Cours du Rhin depuis Strasbourg jusqua'a Worms et les Pais adjacens
- Le Cours du Rhin depuis Worms jusqua Bonne et les Pays adjacens
- Partie Septentrionale de la Souabe
- Partie Meridionale de la Souabe
- La Pologne
- L'Espagne
- L'Italie
- Carte du Piemont et du Monferrat
- Partie Meridionale du Piemont et du Monferrat
- Le Duche de Milan
- Carte de la Hongrie
- Carte de la Grece
- Carte de la Turquie, de L'Arabie, et de la Perse
- Carte des Indes et de la Chine
- Carte D'Asie
- Carte de Tartarie
- L'Afrique
- Carte de la Barbarie de la Nigritie et de la Guinee
- Carte de L'Egypte de la Nubie de L'Abissinie
- Carte du Congo et du Pays des Cafres
- L'Amerique Septentrionale
- Carte du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France
- Carte du Mexique et de la Floride
- L'Amerique Meridionale
- Carte de la Terre Ferme du Perou, du Bresil, et du Pays des Amazones
- Carte du Paraguay, du Chile, du Detriot de Magellan &c.
- Orbis Veteribus Noti Tabula Nova
- Theatrum historicum ad annum Christi quadringentesimu in quo tum Imperii Romani tu Barbarorum circum incolentium status ob oculos ponitur pars occidentalis
- Theatrum historicum ad annum Christi quadringentesimu in quo tum Imperii Romani tu Barbarorum circum incolentium status ob oculos ponitur pars orientalis
- In Notitaim Eccesiasticam Africae Tabula Geographica
- Graeciae pars Septentrionalis
- Graeciae pars Meridionalis
- Regionum Italiae Mediarum Tabula Geographica
- Sicilae Antiquae quae et Sicania et Triacria dicta Tabula Geographica
- Civitas Leucorum sive Pagus Tullensis aujourdhui le Diocese de Toul
- Tabula Delphinatus et Vicinarum Regionum
- Imperii Orientalis et Circumjacentium Regionum sub Constantino Porphyrogenito
- Orbis Romani Descriptio seu Divisio per Themata sub Imperitoribus Constantinopolitanis post Heraclii tempora facta
Guillaume De L'Isle (1675-1726) is probably the greatest figure in French cartography. Having learned geography from his father Claude, by the age of eight or nine he could draw maps to demonstrate ancient history. He studied mathematics and astronomy under Cassini, from whom he received a superb grounding in scientific cartography—the hallmark of his work. His first atlas was published in ca. 1700. In 1702 he was elected a member of the Academie Royale des Sciences and in 1718 he became Premier Geographe du Roi.
De L'Isle's work was important as marking a transition from the maps of the Dutch school, which were highly decorative and artistically-orientated, to a more scientific approach. He reduced the importance given to the decorative elements in maps, and emphasized the scientific base on which they were constructed. His maps of the newly explored parts of the world reflect the most up-to-date information available and did not contain fanciful detail in the absence of solid information. It can be fairly said that he was truly the father of the modern school of cartography at the commercial level.
De L’Isle also played a prominent part in the recalculation of latitude and longitude, based on the most recent celestial observations. His major contribution was in collating and incorporating this latitudinal and longitudinal information in his maps, setting a new standard of accuracy, quickly followed by many of his contemporaries. Guillaume De L’Isle’s work was widely copied by other mapmakers of the period, including Chatelain, Covens & Mortier, and Albrizzi.
Philippe Buache (1700-1773) was one of the most famous French geographers of the eighteenth century. Buache was married to the daughter of the eminent Guillaume Delisle and worked with his father-in-law, carrying on the business after Guillaume died. Buache gained the title geographe du roi in 1729 and was elected to the Academie des Sciences in the same year. Buache was a pioneering theoretical geographer, especially as regards contour lines and watersheds. He is best known for his works such as Considérations géographiques et physiques sur les découvertes nouvelles dans la grande mer (Paris, 1754).