Carte Physique de la Grande Mer…

Rare c.18th map by Phillipe Buache of the Pacific Ocean and one of the earliest attempts at thematic mapping in the field of geology.

This map illustrates Buache’s theory that geological features of land masses, particularly mountain ranges, continue under the surface of the oceans and interconnect the continents. The map shows Australia with the discoveries made by Able Tasman on his two voyages of exploration 1642-44 and a hypothetical east coast extending from Tasmania to the Solomon Islands.

Buache was a French geographer who studied under Guillaume Delisle and was nominated royal geographer in 1729. He established the division of the world by seas and river systems and believed in a southern continent, a hypothesis which was confirmed by later discoveries.

From: Buache, P. Cartes et tables de la geographie physique ou naturelle.