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Description

Nice example of the Reiner & Josua Ottens striking large format map of North America, showing California as an Island, based upon Sanson's landmark map of 1656.

The map also shows the Great Lakes opened up on the west end, as was the norm in the earlier examples (although curiously enough the open-ended Lakes also show up in some later examples of the map). The source of the Mississippi is pushed far west of its true location. The east coast of North America is based upon Sanson, although the projection of California is his second projection, differing from the 1656.

Rarity

This late edition is quite scarce on the market. This is the second example we have offered in 20 years.

Reiner & Joshua Ottens Biography

The Ottens brothers, Reiner and Joshua, operated a successful printing partnership in the mid-eighteenth century (fl. 1726-1765). They began the venture in 1726, publishing maps and other prints as “R & I Ottens.” They specialized in the reprinting of others’ work, especially Guillaume De L’Isle. In 1750, Reiner died; his soon, also Reiner, took his place, but the firm began listing their works as “Joshua & Reiner Ottens.” The firm lasted until Joshua’s death in 1765. Joshua’s widow, Johanna de Lindt, sold their remaining stock of plates in 1784.

Alexis-Hubert Jaillot Biography

Alexis-Hubert Jaillot (ca. 1632-1712) was one of the most important French cartographers of the seventeenth century. Jaillot traveled to Paris with his brother, Simon, in 1657, hoping to take advantage of Louis XIV's call to the artists and scientists of France to settle and work in Paris. Originally a sculptor, he married the daughter of Nicholas Berey, Jeanne Berey, in 1664, and went into partnership with Nicholas Sanson's sons. Beginning in 1669, he re-engraved and often enlarged many of Sanson's maps, filling in the gap left by the destruction of the Blaeu's printing establishment in 1672.