Nou.le Asie ou touts les Points principaux font placessur sur les derni.es observations de M.ts de l'Academie Rou.le…

Decorative wall map of Asia, published by Desnos in Paris, 1772.

Desnos' wall map of Asia was one of a small group of decorative wall maps published in France in the second half of the 18th Century, which were intended to be both objects of beauty and cartographic importance. The fashion of decorating private aristocratic libraries, salons and places of business with wall maps became fashionable in the 17th Century and flourished with the masterpieces published by the great mapmakers of Amsterdam, Paris and Rome in the 17th and 18th Centuries. At the height of this design trend, artists such as Johannes Vermeer frequently depicted such wall maps in important paintings of the period, depicting the home lives of Europe's elite and learned classes.

Desnos' map is surrounded by allegorical scenes depicting the early discovery and history of Asia, along with scenes or early commerce, trade and subjugation of the indigenous peoples. In the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the routes of major explorers and circumnavigators are shown, with an array of early sailing ships.

Louis Charles Desnos was an 18th century French geographer, born in 1725, died on April 18, 1805. He was also a bookseller and publisher in Paris, where, as "ingénieur géographe pour les globes et les sphères de Sa Majesté Danoise", he had a store in rue Saint-Jacques, with the sign "Le Globe".

A geographical engineer (from the city of Paris since 1769), builder and dealer of spheres and astronomical instruments, he was an important manufacturer of cartographic instruments and globes. Desnos also held the coveted position of "Royal Globemaker" for the King of Denmark, Christian VII. In return, every year he sent the King maps, books and atlases. As a bookseller and publisher he produced a considerable amount of work, often associated with geographers Rizzi Zannoni and Louis Brion de la Tour (1756-1823). His great production of maps sometimes earned him a bad reputation among his jealous detractors and especially among other cartographers. He was considered unscrupulous because he used to publish whatever was presented to him, regardless of accuracy or copyright. Desnos had, therefore, several legal issues with other Parisian cartographers and publishers of the time.

Copperplate with later hand colour, laid down on canvas, good confdition. Rare.