One of the Great Miniature Cartographic Works of the 17th Century
A very nice example of this important atlas from the Grand Siècle. The copious illustrations and maps cover all parts of the known world, as well as the heavens.
First edition of this encyclopedic geographical work, which includes celestial, ethnological and cartographic plates. Includes numerous polar maps, views of Australia, a map of Japan, etc.
Volume 5 includes dozens of views and maps of the Americas including Canada, Virginia, Florida, Mexico, California, and city views of Quebec and Havana among others, including one of the most famous maps of the Island of California.
The title translates as:
Description of the Universe containing the different systems of the World, the general and particular Maps of Ancient and Modern Geography: Plans and Profiles of the main Cities and other most important Places of the Earth; with the Portraits of the Sovereigns who command there, their Coats of Arms, Titles and Books; and the Customs, Religions, Governments and various dress of each Nation. Dedicated to the King. By Allain Manesson Mallet, Mathematics Master of the Pages of the Petite Écurie... Paris, Denys Thierry, 1683
5 volumes bound as 3, 8vo (215 x 140mm.), 5 engraved additional titles, 2 portraits, and 677 engraved plates (6 double-page), showing maps, plans, views, cosmographical plates, diagrams and portraits. Original red Morocco, ornate spines with gilt stamped decorations.
- Volume 1: Cosmography, the seas and the Arctic
- Volume 2: Asia and the Middle East
- Volume 3: Africa
- Volume 4: Europe and Russia
- Volume 5, Europe, Antarctic and the Americas.
Alain Mannesson Mallet (1630-1706) was a French mapmaker and engineer who served in the armies of Louis XIV. After rising through the ranks, Mallet was appointed as Inspector of Fortifications, a job which also required mathematical skills and which made him a competent military engineer. Eventually, he joined the court of Louis XIV at Versailles, where he taught math and focused on writing.
Mallet is best known for his Description de L’Univers, first published in 1683, in five volumes. A wide-ranging geographical work, the Description included textual descriptions of the countries of the world, as well as maps of the celestial sky and the ancient and modern worlds. The Description continued to be published until the early eighteenth century. He also published a work in three volumes on warfare (1684) and a primer on geometry (1702).