Within Australia
All orders ship freewithin Australia
Rest of the World
Orders over A$300
ship free worldwide
C1783
Amérique Septentrionale, dressée sur les…
Mapmaker:
Gilles Robert de Vaugondy’s rare c.17th hand coloured map, Amérique Septentrionale, of North America first issued in 1750 and later revised after the American Revolution. The map reflects contemporary European geographic knowledge and incorporates information gathered from explorers, navigators, and … Read Full Description
$A 1,250
S/N: VAUNI-NA-097–528938
(LF03)
Free Shipping
See Shipping page for Terms & Conditions
Details
Full Title:
Amérique Septentrionale, dressée sur les relations les plus modernes des voyageurs et navigateurs, ou se remarquent. Les Etats Unis.
Date:
C1783
Mapmaker:
Condition:
In good condition, with centre fold as issued.
Technique:
Hand coloured copper engraving.
Image Size:
585mm
x 480mm
Paper Size:
650mm
x 510mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1783
Description:
Gilles Robert de Vaugondy’s rare c.17th hand coloured map, Amérique Septentrionale, of North America first issued in 1750 and later revised after the American Revolution.
The map reflects contemporary European geographic knowledge and incorporates information gathered from explorers, navigators, and travel accounts. Its title states that it was compiled from the “most modern relations” of travelers and navigators, indicating reliance on recently available reports and surveys. The map presents coastlines, river systems, colonial territories, and major settlements across North America. French, British, and Spanish territorial claims are delineated, demonstrating the political geography of the continent during the eighteenth century. In revised editions published after 1783, the title and territorial labeling include the United States, reflecting political changes following the Treaty of Paris and American independence. Vaugondy’s cartography combines measured geographic information with areas of uncertainty in the western interior of the continent. Coastal regions and eastern settlements are represented with greater detail and accuracy than inland territories. The map includes speculative features associated with eighteenth-century geographic theories, including possible inland waterways and conjectural routes connected to the search for a Northwest Passage. Such elements were common in European cartography of the period due to limited exploration of the interior and Pacific Northwest. The engraving style follows conventions of French mapmaking in the eighteenth century. Decorative cartouches, engraved lettering, and hand-colored borders appear alongside geographic information. These visual features were characteristic of maps produced for both reference and presentation purposes. The map also reflects developments in Enlightenment-era cartography, during which mapmakers increasingly used scientific observation, navigation records, and published exploration accounts to revise geographic representations. Vaugondy’s revisions over time show how cartographers updated maps in response to new political boundaries and geographic information.
From Robert Vaugondy’s, Atlas Universal.
References:
Pedley, Mary S. Bel et Utile. The Work of the Robert De Vaugondy Family of Mapmakers 1992 England: 450.
Collections:
:
Pedley, Mary S. Bel et Utile. The Work of the Robert De Vaugondy Family of Mapmakers 1992 England: 450.
Collections:
:
Gilles Robert de Vaugondy (1688 - 1766)
Prominent French cartographer and publisher active in Paris, who inherited and extended the intellectual and material legacy of the Sanson family, long regarded as the founders of modern French cartography.
Born in Paris, he became closely associated with the Sanson dynasty through Sanson’s grandson, from whom he acquired a substantial collection of engraved plates, later augmented by those of Pierre Mortier and Alexis-Hubert Jaillot. Drawing upon these foundations, de Vaugondy distinguished himself by revising earlier cartographic models in the light of new scientific knowledge rather than merely reproducing them. He worked in close collaboration with his son, Didier Robert de Vaugondy (1723–1786), an accomplished globemaker who was later appointed Géographe du Roi to Louis XV. Together they formed one of the most influential father-and-son partnerships in eighteenth-century cartography. Their crowning achievement was the Atlas Universel of 1757, a monumental work that integrated the results of recent voyages of exploration, astronomical observations, and contemporary scholarly research, and which set new standards for accuracy and critical evaluation of sources. The Vaugondys placed particular emphasis on precision, grounding their maps in journals, surveys, and scientific data, and thereby differentiating themselves from many of their contemporaries who relied heavily on uncritical copying. Active during the French Enlightenment, their work represents the high point of French mapmaking in the period and played a significant role in shaping European geographical knowledge of the wider world. By the time of his death in Paris in 1766, Gilles Robert de Vaugondy had established a respected and enduring cartographic enterprise, renowned for its detailed and up-to-date representations of global geography. He was also one of the leading exponents of the French School of Theoretical Cartography and like Nicholas Bellin popularised the notion of an imaginary east coast of Australia joined to the Solomon Islands.
