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Pierre Lapie's Imposing Map of Greece -- From the Library of General Nicolas Charles Oudinot.

Colossal engraved folding map of Greece by Pierre Lapie.

The map belongs to a class of large-scale modern surveys published by Pierre Lapie in the first quarter of the 19th century. These maps were on a larger scale and more detailed than any of his competitors at home or abroad.

The map includes the following insets:

• Carte du Territoire de Buthrinto
• Plan de la ville de Navarin au 15,000e.
• Plan des territoires de Parga et d'Aja au 80,000e.
• Plan de la ville de Modon au 15,000e.
• Plan d'Athenes.
• Plan de Nauplie de Romanie et du port Palamede au 15,000e.
• Plan de l'Isthme de Dorinthe au 100,000e.
• Plan de la ville de Coron au 15,000e.
• Plan de la ville de Missolonghi au 20,000e.

The map incorporates the memoirs and itineraries of de Pouqueville, Gell, Dodwell, etc.

Pierre M. Lapie was a French cartographer and engraver. He was the father of cartographer Alexandre Emile Lapie. Lapie was a Colonel in the French army, where he worked in the corps of topographical engineers. Lapie worked closely with his son and published works together and individually.

General Nicolas Charles Oudinot

A final detail that gives this map particular importance is the identity of its former owner, Nicolas Charles Oudinot, 1st Comte Oudinot, 1st Duc de Reggio (1767 - 1848), and a Marshal of France. A fierce fighter, the man was wounded no less than 34 times during his military career!

The only one of nine siblings to live past childhood, Oudinot joined the army without a noble pedigree, and therefore without a chance of high promotion. That all changed in 1792, with the outbreak of the French Revolution. In that year, Oudinot was elected lieutenant-colonel of the third battalion of the volunteers of the Meuse. After transfer to the regular army and admirable service in Belgium, he was promoted to the rank of general in June 1794 after the Battle of Kaiserslautern.

From Belgium he shifted to the German and Swiss fronts, where he fought as a general of division and chief of staff to Andre Massena. Oudinot stood out at the Battle of Monzambano so much so that Napoleon himself presented him with a sword of honor, now known as the Legion d'Honneur. Napoleon did not forget him after he established his empire; now Emperor Napoleon recognized Oudinot again, this time with a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Oudinot continued to acquit himself commendably. He was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies, commanded a company of grenadiers nicknamed for him, and fought in battles from Vienna to Poland. In 1808, he was appointed governor of Erfurt and was made a Count of the French Empire. Finally, in 1809, after the Battle of Wagram, he was named a Marshal of France, France's highest military distinction.

Oudinot continued to serve as an administrator in Holland and on the battlefield in the Russian campaign. After Napoleon's fall, Oudinot joined the Bourbon Restoration and stayed loyal to the King even after Napoleon's return in 1815. For his loyalty and service, he was named a peer of the realm. He served until 1823, when he participated in the French invasion of Spain. Then, he turned again to political and administrative appointments; he died while serving as governor of Les Invalides, at the veterans' hospital in Paris.

Provenance

Purchased at auction in Paris, from Artcuriel, Collections from the Castle of Malicorne Marshal Oudinot's Historical Souvenirs, June 13, 2017 (Lot 156).