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Description

Nice impression of Nicolas Sanson's map of Savoie, the French Alps, and southwestern Switzerland. This map was produced by Nicolas Sanson, one of the great French cartographers of the 17th century. This is the 1652 edition of the map, dated in the title.

The map stretches from Lake Geneva in the northeast to the Rhone just north of Avignon in the lower left. The many mountains of the region are shown in the simple, French school style, somewhat rounded and delicately shaded. Roads, rivers, and cities are all shown. The ski areas of Chamonix and the city of Grenoble are shown.

Condition Description
Original hand-color in outline. Nice, dark impression. Trimmed with contemporary extended margins for includison in a composite atlas.
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.