Rare early map of the Lorraine area of eastern France, near the German Border. This work originally appeared in the very rare text by Maurice Bouguereau, Le Theatre Francoys, known as the first national atlas of France.
The map is attractively designed, showing relief and forests pictorially as well as naming many rivers, towns, and other toponyms. The map includes a cartouche in the lower left.
This map, as with most maps in Le Theatre Francoys, was based on an earlier work. This map incorporates the Gerard Mercator map of southern Lorraine.
Le Theatre Francoys
This very rare volume is understood to be the first national atlas of France. Published in Tours during the French king's exile from Paris, this work reunites maps of northern and central France.
Many of the maps in the volume are copied from earlier Ortelius and Mercator sources, although some, particularly in the region around Tours, are original maps. These maps would be reused by later authors, including Hondius, Blaeu, and Jansson. All the maps in the text are engraved by Tavernier.
The volume suffered from a lack of spatial completeness, with much of the south of France lacking any coverage. While Bouguereau put a plea for more maps in his introduction, subsequent, more complete editions of this work would not be published until well into the 17th century. The first complete edition would appear in 1642 under the name Theatre Geographique due Royaume de France.