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Description

Attractive Double Hemisphere Map of the World Showcasing the Latest Discoveries in North America and the Pacific

Finely-executed map of the world in two hemispheres displaying the most recent discoveries, with particularly excellent detail in North America and early depictions of Australia’s interior.

This map was augmented in November 1821 after its initial publication in June 1820 to reflect new knowledge from the intervening time on North America and Australia. This work was printed on five sheets, with four map sheets and the title panel as a connector, which were intended to be joined into the complete large format map.

The map is stylistically serene, with few flourishes except the elegant calligraphic script in the title and dedication cartouches to be centered between the hemispheres. The clean style of this map serves to showcase its fine cartographic elements all the more.

The dedication cartouche to Baron Georges Cuvier (“The Father of Paleontology”) references him as “Councillor of State Ordinary, One of the Forty of the French Academy, Perpetual Secretary of Sciences.” Beside the dedication note on the bottom of the map frame, two smaller text sections are included, an "Avertissement" commenting on the accuracy of the map and an "Observation" commenting on the map projection and referencing a 1794 map by Arrowsmith.

Prominent English mapmaker Aaron Arrowsmith’s Map of the World on a Globular Projection… was known for its influential, simpler cartographic style depicting only what was confirmed about the world and leaving unknown areas blank. This style was a marked departure from the highly decorative maps of earlier years.

The differences between the 1820 version of this map and this updated version are mostly updates to North America, but detail in the interior of New South Wales (Australia) is also added for the first time, including several rivers and lakes inland from Sydney. This is notably one of the earliest maps to show Australia’s interior.

Updates to North America

The shape of Illinois and Indiana are completely re-configured here, as is Lake Michigan and most of the Great Lakes. The southern coast of Hudson Bay and its tributary rivers have been redrawn more accurately as well. The South Bay of Labrador is added, and the Entrée de James is significantly reduced from the 1820 version.

The Arkansas and Missouri territories are newly named. In Utah, the size of Lake Timpanogos and L. Teguayo are significantly reduced. The Rio S. Phelipe is significantly altered to the south of its original course across California, Nevada, and Utah. The Shoshone Indians are placed near the headwaters of the Multnomah River in Oregon. In Wyoming, the Sr. Verde and Pohah were added at the headwaters of the Lewis River, Lake Riddle and Rio Clementini are shown, and the Kiawah Indians are also newly added. In Colorado and Kansas, the headwaters of the Platte and Republican Rivers have been altered.

Viewers will note that much of the northwest of America has been filled in by Lewis and Clark’s expedition (1804-1806), as well as notice the rivers clearly named for them on this map.

In search of a Northwest Passage: Mackenzie and Hearn

For over 300 years explorers risked their lives in search of a Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, hoping to secure a lucrative trading route between Europe and Asia. Originally located on maps much farther south, by the early nineteenth century explorers had disproved earlier theories and made their way into the Arctic to battle their way through frozen waters.   

In the scarce area of this map above North America’s Arctic Circle there are two water bodies labeled “Mer vue par Mackenzie” and “Mer vue par Hearn” (The sea(s) viewed by Mackenzie and Hearn). The cartographer chose not to connect the sea from these explorer’s accounts to each other or to William Parry’s discoveries to the north, and it is clear from the use of dashed lines that the true extent of these discoveries was not yet known. While cautious in its depiction, the map does seem to suggest that the sea viewed by explorers Alexander Mackenzie and Samuel Hearn could be connected to the supposed strait from the Pacific, in support of exploration of the Northwest Passage.

Samuel Hearne (1745-1792) is known as the first European to the reach the Arctic from the interior, traveling overland from Hudson Bay at the commission of the Canadian Hudson’s Bay Company in search of copper mines and the Northwest Passage. His journey definitively proved the Bay did not connect to the Pacific, significantly altering successive searches for a Northwest Passage.

Alexander Mackenzie is best known for his 1789 and 1793 journeys to the Arctic and Pacific coasts. In 1789, Mackenzie followed what would later be called the Mackenzie River from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. According to Peter Pond, who previously explored the area and mapped Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake, the river was supposed to head west to the Pacific and connect to an inlet found by James Cook in Alaska. Mackenzie quickly discovered the river actually flowed due north, following it until it reached the Arctic Ocean. Mackenzie’s book, Voyages from Montreal to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans (1801), would inspire and guide other explorers, including Lewis and Clark.

Narrowing in on the Arctic Passage

This remarkably up-to-date map contains information from English explorer William Parry’s 1819-1820 voyage in search of a Northwest Passage, as well as Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue’s 1815-1818 voyage in search of the same route.

The naming of Entrée de Kotzebue and the addition of a “Det Supposé" (possible strait) on the Northwest Coast of Alaska reference Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue’s attempt to locate a navigable sea passage through the Arctic above. Kotzebue’s account, entitled Voyage of Discovery in the South Sea, and to Behring's Straits, in Search of a North-East Passage Undertaken in the years 1815, 16, 17, and 18, in the ship Rurick, was published simultaneously in Germany and Russia in 1821.

William Edward Parry’s first voyage in search of the Northwest Passage from 1819-1820 was instrumental in discovering an actual navigable route. He discovered a way through Lancaster Sound, which previous explorer John Ross had missed, sailed through Barrow Strait and discovered Melville Island. Blocked by ice, he and his crew successfully wintered at the aptly named Winter Harbor. Above Melville Island, viewer’s will note the bay named after his ship, the Hecla

Thirty years after this map was published, Englishman Robert McClure led the first successful transit of the Northwest Passage, by sea and over ice by sledge. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to complete the passage solely by water, using a smaller sailing craft in 1905.

This fine piece of work by Adrien-Hubert Brué details all the latest discoveries, with particularly exciting detail from brave expeditions in search of a Northwest Passage through the Arctic. Australia’s eastern coast is as finely detailed as possible, and the interior of the continent is starting to be illuminated. This map is an excellent choice for all who enjoy exciting tales of discovery evidenced cartographically.

Rarity

The map is very rare on the market. This is the first example we have ever seen.

Provenance:  Warren Heckrotte collection

Condition Description
5 sheets, unjoined. Some toning and an old repaired tear.
Reference
Alan Edwin Day, Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Northwest Passage (Lanham, Md., Scarecrow Press, 2006); William Frame and Laura Walker, James Cook: The Voyages (Montreal: MQUP, 2018). ACA.
Adrien-Hubert Brué Biography

Andre Hubert Brué was a French geographer and cartographer. Born in Paris, he served in the French Navy, joining the Baudin expedition to the Pacific (1800-1804). After his sea service, Brué applied his navigation and charting skills to creating finely-crafted maps, which were renowned for their crisp engraving and accuracy. He drew directly on the copper of the plate, creating what he called encyprotypes. He is best known for the Atlas universal de géographie physique, politique, ancienne et moderne.