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Description

Terrific map of the Spanish possessions throughout the world.

At the center is a map of Spain, which is surrounded by maps of its various colonial possessions, including portions of Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, Nouveau Mexique (New Mexico and Texas), Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, Yucatan and South America, the Antilles and Terra Ferme, Peru, Chili, Argentina, Brazil, the Philippines, the Low Countries and the Canaries.

In each instance, there is a text note describing each of the territories. This outlines the discovery, the geography, and the demographics of the regions.

Spain, at the time of this map, had just passed to Bourbon control following the conclusion of the War of the Spanish Succession. Many European powers were wary of this alliance between France and Spain, which was thought to be a possible upset of the balance of European power. This resulted in an alliance against Spain which would push the country out of Sardinia and Sicily in 1720, which it had invaded in 1718, and is shown as a Spanish possession on this map.

Condition Description
Overleaf and fold toning.
Henri Chatelain Biography

Henri Abraham Chatelain (1684-1743) was a Huguenot pastor of Parisian origins. Chatelain proved a successful businessman, creating lucrative networks in London, The Hague, and then Amsterdam. He is most well known for the Atlas Historique, published in seven volumes between 1705 and 1720. This encyclopedic work was devoted to the history and genealogy of the continents, discussing such topics as geography, cosmography, topography, heraldry, and ethnography. Published thanks to a partnership between Henri, his father, Zacharie, and his younger brother, also Zacharie, the text was contributed to by Nicolas Gueudeville, a French geographer. The maps were by Henri, largely after the work of Guillaume Delisle, and they offered the general reader a window into the emerging world of the eighteenth century.