Nouvelle Carte de la Moitie Septentrionale du Globe Terrestre… / Nouvelle Carte de la Moitie Meridionale du Globe Terrestr
| Reference: | S398070 |
| Author | Guillaulme DE L'ISLE |
| Year: | 1752 |
| Zone: | The World |
| Printed: | Amsterdam |
| Measures: | 475 x 480 mm |
| Reference: | S398070 |
| Author | Guillaulme DE L'ISLE |
| Year: | 1752 |
| Zone: | The World |
| Printed: | Amsterdam |
| Measures: | 475 x 480 mm |
Description
A rare pair of large and impressive eighteenth century maps, showing polar projections of the northern and southern hemispheres.
The maps are essentially reissues of the seminal pair of hemispheres engraved by de l'Isle in 1714, the plates for which passed through the hands of Bouvet before coming to van Ewyk, and from the latter to Dezauche. van Ewyk's edition adds little to the geography of de l'Isle's original, though does add a magnetic pole, represented by an enigmatic 'Z' to the right of the geographic south pole, and the associated measurements of magnetic inclination and declination.
The maps themselves are, characteristic of de l'Isle, accurate, detailed, and beautifully engraved, heavily annotated in French. Sea coasts and regional borders are outlined in hand colour, and the polar and tropic circles are marked in red. The Equator acts as the border for each map.
Cartographically, the southern hemisphere is likely the more interesting as the pair, lacking entirely any depiction of Antartica, aside from Janvier's Cap de la Circoncision and a patch of coast reportedly discovered by Drake, and showing only partial coastlines for New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. In the northern hemisphere, California is shown correctly as a peninsula, though much of the northwest coast of north America is still absent. Hudson Bay is fully mapped though Baffin's Bay still has missing coastlines. Frisland is tentatively still included, albeit as a single isolated stretch of coast to the south of Greenland. Surrounding both maps, the corners of the sheets contain annotations in French and Dutch.
Nicolaas van Ewyk (fl.1750s) was a Dutch engraver and publisher, working out of Amsterdam.
Guillaume de l'Isle (1625 - 1726) was one of the finest cartographers of the eighteenth-century. He is widely regarded as the father of scientific mapmaking, and was the first to utilise the practices of triangulation and mensuration in the production of his works.
Guillaulme DE L'ISLE (1675 - 1726)
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vershadowed by his more famous son, Guillaume.
Guillaume De L’Isle, (1675-1726) Premier Geographe to the French king, was probably the leading map-maker of the period. His work was important as marking a transition from the maps of the Dutch school, which were highly decorative and artistically-orientated, to a more scientific approach, which reduced the importance given to the decorative elements, and emphasized the scientific base on which their maps were constructed, out of which the modern school of cartography emerged. He was prominent in the recalculation of latitude and longitude, based on the most up-to-date celestial observations, and his major contribution was in collating and incorporating this information in his maps, setting a new standard of accuracy, quickly followed by many of his contemporaries, including the Dutch firm of Covens and Mortier.
Having learnt geography from his father, it is said that at the age of eight or nine he could draw maps to demonstrate ancient history. He studied mathematics and astronomy under J.D. Cassini, where he received the grounding in scientific cartography, that is the hallmark of his work.
His first atlas was published in about 1700, in 1702 he was elected a member of the Academie Royale des Sciences, and in 1718 became Premier Geographe du Roi. His maps of the newly explored parts of the world reflect the most up-to-date information available and did not contain fanciful detail in the absence of solid information.
After his death in 1726 his business was continued by his nephew Philippe Buache, and subsequently by J. Dezauche.
Joseph Nicholas De L’Isle (1688-1768), Guillaume’s brother, became a friend of Peter the Great and supplied him with information on the Russian Empire. He stayed in Russia for twenty-two years and was in charge of the Royal Observatory in St. Petersburg, returning to France in 1747, taking with him much of the material he had access to, particularly relating to explorations along the northern Pacific coasts of Russia and America, which he subsequently published. The Atlas Russicus was published in 1747 and contained twenty maps.
Simon Claude De L’Isle (1675-1726) was a historian. It is curious to note that he was born and died in the same years as his elder brother Guillaume.
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Guillaulme DE L'ISLE (1675 - 1726)
|
vershadowed by his more famous son, Guillaume.
Guillaume De L’Isle, (1675-1726) Premier Geographe to the French king, was probably the leading map-maker of the period. His work was important as marking a transition from the maps of the Dutch school, which were highly decorative and artistically-orientated, to a more scientific approach, which reduced the importance given to the decorative elements, and emphasized the scientific base on which their maps were constructed, out of which the modern school of cartography emerged. He was prominent in the recalculation of latitude and longitude, based on the most up-to-date celestial observations, and his major contribution was in collating and incorporating this information in his maps, setting a new standard of accuracy, quickly followed by many of his contemporaries, including the Dutch firm of Covens and Mortier.
Having learnt geography from his father, it is said that at the age of eight or nine he could draw maps to demonstrate ancient history. He studied mathematics and astronomy under J.D. Cassini, where he received the grounding in scientific cartography, that is the hallmark of his work.
His first atlas was published in about 1700, in 1702 he was elected a member of the Academie Royale des Sciences, and in 1718 became Premier Geographe du Roi. His maps of the newly explored parts of the world reflect the most up-to-date information available and did not contain fanciful detail in the absence of solid information.
After his death in 1726 his business was continued by his nephew Philippe Buache, and subsequently by J. Dezauche.
Joseph Nicholas De L’Isle (1688-1768), Guillaume’s brother, became a friend of Peter the Great and supplied him with information on the Russian Empire. He stayed in Russia for twenty-two years and was in charge of the Royal Observatory in St. Petersburg, returning to France in 1747, taking with him much of the material he had access to, particularly relating to explorations along the northern Pacific coasts of Russia and America, which he subsequently published. The Atlas Russicus was published in 1747 and contained twenty maps.
Simon Claude De L’Isle (1675-1726) was a historian. It is curious to note that he was born and died in the same years as his elder brother Guillaume.
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