Sign In

- Or use -
Forgot Password Create Account
The item illustrated and described below is sold, but we have another example in stock. To view the example which is currently being offered for sale, click the "View Details" button below.
Description

Early state of Du Val's scarce map of America.

Du Val's map of America was first issued in 1655, in the second edition of his Cartes Geographiques. Between 1655 and 1687, the map went through at least 12 recorded examples.

Both the 1st and 2nd states of the map are essentially "incomplete" states of the map, distinguishable by the lack of nomenclature in California, the Great Lakes and elsewhere.

For the first time in this 1664 edition of the map, Du Val adds significant detail to the map, including the many place names in California and off its coast, the names of the 5 Great Lakes, the names of the Oceans (Mer de Californie, Mer de Canada, etc.), place names in Texas and along the Gulf Coast, and the names of a number of East Coast cities, including Charlesfort, Jamestown, London, Boston and Christina.

A number of additional Indian tribes are also named. There are also extensive notes and annotations throughout the present map which are not included in the earlier state.

Reference
Burden 311 (State 4), McLaughlin 15, Tooley 117; Wagner 425.
Pierre Du Val Biography

Pierre Duval (1618-1683) was a French geographer, cartographer, and publisher who worked in Abbeville and Paris during the seventeenth century. He was born in the former city, in northeast France, before moving to Paris. Duval was the nephew of the famous cartographer Nicolas Sanson, from whom he learned the mapmaker's art and skills. Both men worked at the royal court, having followed the royal request for artists to relocate to Paris. In addition to numerous maps and atlases, Du Val's opus also includes geography texts. He held the title of geographe ordinaire du roi from 1650 and died in 1683, when his wife and daughters took over his business.