Within Australia
All orders ship freewithin Australia
Rest of the World
Orders over A$300
ship free worldwide
C1774
Mappe Monde ou Description du Globe Terrestre.
Mapmaker:
Scarce c.18th hand coloured engraved French double hemisphere world map. Australia and New Zealand are shown according to the discoveries made by Abel Tasman on his two voyages in 1642-1644. Tasman’s instructions were contained in the missive of the Governor-General … Read Full Description
$A 750
Free Shipping
See Shipping page for Terms & Conditions
Details
Full Title:
Mappe Monde ou Description du Globe Terrestre.
Date:
C1774
Mapmaker:
Condition:
In good condition with folds as issued.
Technique:
Copper engraving hand coloured
Image Size:
290mm
x 145mm
Paper Size:
372mm
x 212mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1774
Description:
Scarce c.18th hand coloured engraved French double hemisphere world map.
Australia and New Zealand are shown according to the discoveries made by Abel Tasman on his two voyages in 1642-1644. Tasman’s instructions were contained in the missive of the Governor-General and Council of the Indies to the Heren XVII of 12 December 1642, in which a brief summary of the plan for the voyage was given. The primary objectives of the VOC’s exploratory voyages had always been the opening up of new markets for trade while at the same time the updating of existing charts or creation of new charts. Tasman’s first voyage resulted in the discovery of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) and New Zealand which gave the southern and eastern geographical limits of the South Land and proved that it was not connected to Terra Australis. The results of the second voyage gave shape to Australia’s northern and northwest coasts. The second voyage charted the northern coast. The shape of Australia on maps was then to remain virtually unchanged, without any significant discoveries until the voyage of James Cook in 1769-1770.
Australia’s southern and east coasts are shown according to the theories of the French School of Theoretical Cartography who popularised the notion of an imaginary east coast of Australia extending from Van Diemen’s Land to the Solomon Islands. It was so influential in propogating thiese theories that most cartographers depicted Australia on their maps accordingly. This error was to remain on charts until James Cook’s finally discovered and charted the east coast of the South Land in 1769-70.
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.
