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Description

Important innovation in the history of the mapping of Japan.

The map alters the so-called Blancus/Moreira pro-type, changing Lake Biwa into a wide gulf,  Kyushu appears as a very rugged narrow island and Honshu takes on an exaggerated mushroom shape. This cartography was copied by several other cartographers, particularly in pocket atlases. 

Reference
Walter #48 & OAG-56.
Pierre Du Val Biography

Pierre Duval (1618-1683) was a French geographer, cartographer, and publisher who worked in Abbeville and Paris during the seventeenth century. He was born in the former city, in northeast France, before moving to Paris. Duval was the nephew of the famous cartographer Nicolas Sanson, from whom he learned the mapmaker's art and skills. Both men worked at the royal court, having followed the royal request for artists to relocate to Paris. In addition to numerous maps and atlases, Du Val's opus also includes geography texts. He held the title of geographe ordinaire du roi from 1650 and died in 1683, when his wife and daughters took over his business.