This copper-engraved map of France, published by the English map John Senex, presents a detailed and updated depiction of the French kingdom based on the astronomical and topographical observations of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris.
The map was published shortly after the conclusion of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), a major European conflict in which Britain and France were key antagonists. The Treaty of Utrecht, signed in the same year as this map’s publication, redrew many boundaries across Europe. Senex’s decision to base his cartography on data from the Académie royale des sciences—established by Louis XIV in 1666—signals both an acknowledgment of French advancements in cartographic and astronomical methods and an effort to enhance the accuracy of British cartographic representations. This was part of a broader trend in which leading European mapmakers, despite national tensions, shared scientific knowledge to improve geographic understanding.
The map is finely engraved and colored in outline, displaying the provinces of France, their major towns, rivers, mountain ranges, and roads. Political boundaries are demarcated in outline color. Though primarily focused on France, it includes parts of neighboring territories such as the Low Countries, the Rhineland, Switzerland, northern Italy, and the Iberian Peninsula
The map is richly adorned with two cartouches. The dedication cartouche at the lower left is addressed to Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery (1674–1731), a noted patron of the sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society. The upper right corner features an elaborate allegorical cartouche, displaying martial and peaceful figures surrounding a portrait of Louis XIV, a trumpet-bearing cherub, the royal arms of France, and a seated female figure with a cornucopia symbolizing abundance—emphasizing the power and prosperity of the French monarchy.
John Senex (1678-1740) was one of the foremost mapmakers in England in the early eighteenth century. He was also a surveyor, globemaker, and geographer. As a young man, he was apprenticed to Robert Clavell, a bookseller. He worked with several mapmakers over the course of his career, including Jeremiah Seller and Charles Price. In 1728, Senex was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, a rarity for mapmakers. The Fellowship reflects his career-long association as engraver to the Society and publisher of maps by Edmund Halley, among other luminaries. He is best known for his English Atlas (1714), which remained in print until the 1760s. After his death in 1740 his widow, Mary, carried on the business until 1755. Thereafter, his stock was acquired by William Herbert and Robert Sayer (maps) and James Ferguson (globes).