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Description

Fine example of Nicolas Sanson's first map of the British Isles, engraved by Melchior Tavernier and published by Pierre Mariette. The map shows England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland with an inset of the Shetlands and two decorative cartouches.

The map includes a curious style of coloring, in which certain islands are colored differently to the regions they pertain to. The Isle of White, Anglesey, and some of the Hebrides are colored in this fashion.

The distortion of lreland and the condensed size of Scotland are in part caused by the projection used by Sanson. This map was much copied by other French publishers around 1645 and also, surprisingly, by Richard Blome (in London) in 1669, attesting to both Sanson's influence and this map's importance. Blome's map was engraved by Francis Lamb and - unusually for Blome - acknowledged its source as being Sanson.

Condition Description
Original hand-color in outline. Minor fold toning. Minor toning along top margin.
Reference
Shirley, R.W. (BI to 1650) 506, pl.80
Melchior Tavernier Biography

Melchior Tavernier was a member of a large family involved in the publishing trade in Paris in the early years of the seventeenth century. Early in his career, he apparently collaborated with Henricus Hondius, as at least one of his early maps references Tavernier as the seller of a map engraved in Amsterdam, by Hondius. He is probably best known for his publication of a map of the Post Roads of France, which was copied many times until the end of the century. He also issued an atlas under the same title as J. le Clerc's Theatre Geographique, using many of Le Clerc's maps, but incorporating others from different sources. He published composite atlases and also published works for other cartographers, including N. Sanson, N. Tassin, and P. Bertius. He is not to be confused with his nephew of the same name (1594-1665), who also engraved maps for Nicolas Sanson.

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.