Rare, original antique map of the capital region of Norway, centered on Oslo and published in Paris by Guillaume Sanson.
The map draws its title from the Akershus fortress, an 1290s fortress that now serves as the residence of the Norwegian Prime Minister and formerly the seat of the Akershus County, one of the four regions of southern Norway. The cartography on the map is finely detailed, naming many cities in the vicinity of Norway and showing inland mountains, rivers, and lakes.
Regional maps of Norway from this period showing inland detail as this region was not as much of a focus for the cartographers of western Europe who specialized in making maps of their home regions or of areas where trade was occurring. Sanson executed perhaps the best widely-circulated (but still very rare) suite of maps of Norwegian regions of the time. Along with this map, Sanson also issued the first printed map of all of Norway
The son of famous French cartographer Nicolas Sanson, Guillaume (1633-1703) carried on his father's work. Like his sire, he was a court geographer to Louis XIV. He often worked in partnership with another prominent cartographer of the time, Hubert Jaillot.