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Description

An attractive example of Nicolas Sanson's antique regional map of Upper and "Grand" Poland, first issued in 1657.

The map shows Warsaw ("Varsovia") at the eastern edge, extending to Breslau (Wroclaw) in the south and to the west through Poznan ("Posnania | Posnan P. | Posen G.") to the present-day German border.

This is state 3 (of 4), with the date erased and imprint line updated to "aux Galleries du Louvre" but "Ches le S Robert Geog. du Roi." This state is dated to 1700.

The map includes all or part of the following polities: Palatinat de Posna; Duche de Silesie; Palatinat de Kalisch; Palatinat de Inowlocz; Palatinat de Lencici; Duche de Masovie; Palatinat de Rava; and Haute Pologne.

Condition Description
Original outline hand-color. Minor hand-color offsetting.
Reference
Imago Poloniae, K83 state 3 (of 4).
Nicolas Sanson Biography

Nicholas Sanson (1600-1667) is considered the father of French cartography in its golden age from the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-eighteenth. Over the course of his career he produced over 300 maps; they are known for their clean style and extensive research. Sanson was largely responsible for beginning the shift of cartographic production and excellence from Amsterdam to Paris in the later-seventeenth century.

Sanson was born in Abbeville in Picardy. He made his first map at age twenty, a wall map of ancient Gaul. Upon moving to Paris, he gained the attention of Cardinal Richelieu, who made an introduction of Sanson to King Louis XIII. This led to Sanson's tutoring of the king and the granting of the title ingenieur-geographe du roi

His success can be chalked up to his geographic and research skills, but also to his partnership with Pierre Mariette. Early in his career, Sanson worked primarily with the publisher Melchior Tavernier. Mariette purchased Tavernier’s business in 1644. Sanson worked with Mariette until 1657, when the latter died. Mariette’s son, also Pierre, helped to publish the Cartes générales de toutes les parties du monde (1658), Sanson' atlas and the first French world atlas.