Claude Delisle (1644-1720)
Profile :
Claude Delisle, also known as Guillaume Delisle, was one of the most important and influential cartographers of the 18th century. His innovative approach to cartography, which was grounded in the latest scientific knowledge and measurement techniques, revolutionized the field and set a new standard for accuracy and precision in mapmaking.
Delisle's maps were known for their exceptional accuracy and detail, and they were widely used by governments, scholars, and explorers throughout Europe. He drew upon the latest astronomical and mathematical data to create maps that were more precise and reliable than those that had come before.
One of Delisle's most important contributions to cartography was his development of the "Delisle Method," which involved the use of triangulation to measure distances between points on the earth's surface. This method allowed for more accurate mapping of large areas and was widely adopted by other cartographers.
Delisle's maps were also notable for their use of shaded relief, which helped to convey a sense of three-dimensionality and depth. He was one of the first cartographers to incorporate this technique into his maps, and it became a hallmark of his work.
Delisle produced a number of important maps and atlases during his career, including the Atlas Nouveau, which was considered one of the finest atlases of the 18th century. He also produced maps of many regions of Europe, Africa, and the Americas, including detailed maps of France, Spain, Portugal, and the British Isles.
Delisle's work had a profound impact on the field of cartography, and his legacy as one of the greatest cartographers of all time continues to be felt today. His maps and atlases are highly valued by collectors and scholars, and his contributions to the field of geography and mapmaking have been recognized and celebrated for centuries.
Claude Delisle (17)
1704 Delisle Large Antique Map Rhine River, Alsace, France & Germany
- Title : Le Cours Du Rhin....1704
- Ref #: 32291
- Size: 26in x 20in (660mm x 510mm)
- Date : 1704
- Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
Description:
This large beautifully hand coloured original antique map of a section of the Rhine River in France - from Strasbourg in the north to the Swiss Border - was engraved in 1704 - the date is engraved in the title - by Guillaume de L'Isle. (Ref: M&B; Tooley)
Condition Report
Paper thickness and quality: - Very heavy and stable
Paper color: - Off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 26in x 20in (660mm x 510mm)
Plate size: - 25 1/2in x 19 1/2in (650mm x 495mm)
Margins: - min. 1/4in (5mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - Light soiling
1708 Delisle & Mortier Large 1st edition Antique Map of North America - Landmark Map
- Title : L Amerique Septentrionale dressee sur les Observations de Mrs. De L Academie Royale des Sciences & quelques autres..., par N. Sanson, Amsterdam,
- Size: 23 1/2in x 19in (595mm x 485mm)
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
- Date : 1708 (1st ed)
- Ref #: 93008
Description:
This is without doubt one of the most important foundation maps, of North America, published in the early to mid 18th century.
A large 1st edition, original hand coloured copper-plate engraved antique map of North America, by Pierre Mortier, after Guillaume Delisle, that was published in 1708 in Atlas nouveau de dicerses cartes choisies des Meilleurs Geographes comme Sanson, G De Lisle &c....A Amsterdam.....
A rare map with the mistaken dedication to Nicolas Sanson, in the title. This oversight was removed in all other subsequent editions.
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stableAntonio Zattadelisle
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Blue, pink, red, green, yellow
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 23 1/2in x 19in (595mm x 485mm)
Plate size: - 23in x 17 3/4in (580mm x 450mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (15mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
Background:
There are many reasons why this rare 1st edition foundation map is important. It contains detail of radical changes both to the interior of North America and helps debunk many fundamentally held ideas of the coastlines. Some of these ideas included The Great lakes, California as an island and previously invented ideas of the interior, NW & NE coastlines.
Specifically the shape of the Great Lakes are changed based on information from the great Italian cartographer Vincenzo Coronelli.
The Mississippi valley is well developed with recent French settlement of d\'Iberville at Bilochy and the forts at Bon Secours and St Louis. The map also corrects the error of the western swing of the lower part of the Mississippi River, moving its mouth to essentially its correct position on the Gulf of Mexico.
Delisle has also corrected longitude positions and was the first to revert to a peninsular form for California. He stops his western coast at Cape Mendocin and is the first map to show the Saragossa Sea.
The map also illustrates the routes of explorers such as Cortez, Drake, D\'Olivier, Gaeten and Mendana, and indicates the locates of a number of Indian tribes, including the Apaches.
As this is a French map we see many of the French strong points in the NE such as Tadousac, Quebec, Fort Sorel, Montreal & Fort Frontenac included. The English settlements are confined to the east of the Alleghenies, with Fort and River Kinibeki as the border between New England and Arcadia.
Such was the improvement of this map, and the sterling reputation of Delisle, that within a few years other publishers issued their own copies of the map, which continued to appear until the 1780s. The importance of this map cannot be overstated in the progression of American cartography. (Ref: M&B; Tooley)
1708 Guillaume Delisle Large Antique Map of North America - 4th State, rare
- Title : Carte Du Mexique et de la Floride des Terres Angloises et des Isles Antilles du Cours et des Environs de la Riviere Mississipi . . .Chez L Auteur sue le Quaide de l Horlage Privilege du Roy po. 20 ana 1703
- Date : 1708
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
- Ref: 93525
- Size: 29 1/4in x 20 1/2in (750mm x 520mm)
Description:
In the world of early 18th century American cartography, no one published as many landmark maps of North America as the French family firm of Delisle. This large original copper-plate engraved scarce map of North America became one of the most copied map of the next 100 years by the likes of Homann, Seutter, Lotter, Sanson and many others. Engraved by Charles Simoneau, this map is the 4th state of seven (identified with the date 1703 in the cartouche with Delisles address in Paris erased) was published by Guillaume Delisle in the <i>Atlas Nouveau.</i>
The 7 states outlined by Tooley are:
- State 1 (1703): De LIsles first address on Rue Des Canettes.
- State 2 (1703): address changed to Quai de lHorloge Couronne de Diamans and the imprint of Renard.
- State 3 (1708): Couronne de Diamans is erased and <i>se trouve a Amsterdam chez L. Renard Libraire prez de la Bourse</i> is added
- State 4 (1708): <i>A Paris Chez L Auteur sur le Quai de l Horloge</i> is added and <i>Couronne de Diamans and Renards</i> imprint are removed and the engravers name (Simoneau) appears below the cartouche.
- State 5 (1722): <i>A Amsterdam Chez Jean Covens & Corneille Mortier avec Privilege 1722</i> Re-engraved and published by Covens & Mortier in Atlas Nouveau
- State 6 (1745): Philippe Buache imprint added below neatline at right.
- State 7 (1783): Title altered to Carte du Mexique et des Etas Unis dAmerique, Partie Meridionale, issued by Dezauche, showing US States and boundaries.
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 29 1/4in x 20 1/2in (750mm x 520mm)
Plate size: - 26in x 19 1/2in (660mm x 495mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (20mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
Background:
This map, which is one of the three great maps of regional North America conceived by Delisle during the first quarter of the eighteenth century, identifies the colonial affiliations that defined the destiny of North America by the end of the century. As is often the case, the British North American Colonies are shown hemmed in by the Appalachians and crowding the Atlantic coast. The status of present-day South Carolina is dubious, the coloring implying that it may belong to Spain. To the north and west of New England, Canada confines the British colonies even further. In the Southwest, French Floride extends to the Rio Grande and south to present-day Brownsville. The northern boundary of Floride is indicated, except that it abuts Canada, thereby giving France possession of the entire middle part of the continent. Various remarks and locations for Native American tribes are shown, indicating, for example, the locations of the Apache Vaqueros, the Apache Navaio, and the Tiguas. In the French possessions many tribes and their villages are indicated, for example, the famous Cenis in Texas, the Apalache in Georgia and Florida, and the Kicapou near the Great Lakes (their original location before they were pushed all the way to Mexico). Delisles debts to Ibervilles explorations are frequently shown on this map.
The map was compiled from the reports brought back to France from the survivors of the La Salle expedition into the interior of North America and from the information derived from the explorations of Bienville and dIberville. In the year preceding the publication of the map, De LIsle utilized his position with the King of France to gain access to the best available information from the new world. During this time period he assiduously compiled the geographical data from the reports of the French Jesuit Missionaries and Explorers in North America, along with Spanish manuscript maps (often copied by the Missionaries while they were acting in the service of the Spanish as spiritual guides and gaining their confidence).
The result of this work were a series of landmark maps of the North America, including his map of North America ( LAmerique Septentrionale, 1700), Canada and the Great Lakes ( Carte du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France 1703), and the Mississippi Valley & Gulf Coast ( Carte de la Louisiane et du Cours du Mississipi 1708).
The map has been a towering landmark along the path of Western cartographic development. De LIsles map also includes greater accuracy in the Great Lakes region and in its depiction of English settlements along the East Coast. Excellent detail of the Indian villages in East Texas, based upon the reports of dIberville and the Spanish missionaries. The best depiction of the Southwest to date, with early trails & Indian tribes. Cumming described the map as profoundly influential.
Many have suggested that Claude Delisle, father of Guillaume, was the one who conducted the research on the maps, whereas Guillaume was the one who actually drew the maps and engraved the plates. Obviously the maps were a collaborative effort of the Delisle firm.
1711 Claude Delisle Large Antique Map of Rome and Regions, Italy
- Title : Regionum Italiae Mediarum Tabula Geographica Par Guill. Delisle.....1711
- Ref #: 31904
- Size: 28in x 21in (660mm x 535mm)
- Date : 1711
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
Description:
This large beautifully engraved hand coloured original antique map of Rome and the regions surrounding the ancient capital was engraved in 1711 - the date is engraved at the foot of the map - and was published by Guillaume Delisle in the Atlas Nouveau. (Ref: M&B; Tooley)
Condition Report
Paper thickness and quality: - Very heavy and stable
Paper color: - Off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 28in x 21in (660mm x 535mm)
Plate size: - 24in x 18 1/2in (610mm x 470mm)
Margins: - min. 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Repair to bottom margin
Plate area: - Light creasing and slight discolouration to bottom centerold
Verso: - None
1720 Guillaume Delisle Large Antique Map of America, New Zealand, Pacific Ocean
- Title : Hemisphere Occidental Dresse en 1720 pour l usage
- Date : 1720
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
- Ref: 93081
- Size: 25in x 21in (635mm x 535mm)
Description:
This very large 1st edition beautifully hand coloured original antique Map of America by Guillaume Delisle, was engraved by J De la Haye in 1720, dated, and was was published in the Atlas Nouveau.
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Blue, pink, red, green, yellow
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 25in x 21in (635mm x 535mm)
Plate size: - 19 1/2in x 19in (490mm x 485mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Uniform age toning
Plate area: - Uniform age toning
Verso: - Uniform age toning
Background:
Guillaume de L isle was responsible for some of the most accurate maps of America avaialble in the early 18th century. Delisle did away with most of the speculative cartography especially of North America and researched his information in finite detail. This can be seen in many ways. The most oblivious is showing California as a Peninsular - which some cartographers did not believe until the 1740\'s - and the NW region has been left blank, free of speculation. Another noticeable difference is the accurate depiction of the Great Lakes.
As with all Delisle\'s map this is finely engraved with amazing detail and hand colour. The map includes the tracks of many explorers up until 1710. These include Magellan 1520, Halley 1700, de Quiros 1605, de Mendana 1595, de la Maire 1616, Tasman, Halley and others. (Ref: M&B; Tooley)
1722 G. Delisle and Covens & Mortier Antique Map of North America - 5th State
- Title : Carte Du Mexique et de la Floride des Terres Angloises et des Isles Antilles du Cours...1722
- Date : 1722
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
- Ref: 70814
- Size: 25 1/2in x 21 1/2in (650mm x 545mm)
Description:
In the world of early 18th century American cartography, no one published as many landmark maps of North America as the French family firm of Delisle. This large original copper-plate engraved scarce map of North America became one of the most copied map of the next 100 years by the likes of Homann, Seutter, Lotter, Sanson and many others.
Re-engraved and published by Covens & Mortier in Amsterdam, this map is the 5th state of seven, published in the Atlas Nouveau.
The 7 states outlined by Tooley are:
- State 1 (1703): De LIsles first address on Rue Des Canettes.
- State 2 (1703): address changed to Quai de lHorloge Couronne de Diamans and the imprint of Renard.
- State 3 (1708): Couronne de Diamans is erased and se trouve a Amsterdam chez L. Renard Libraire prez de la Bourse is added
- State 4 (1708): A Paris Chez L Auteur sur le Quai de l Horloge is added and Couronne de Diamans and Renards imprint are removed and the engravers name (Simoneau) appears below the cartouche.
- State 5 (1722): A Amsterdam Chez Jean Covens & Corneille Mortier avec Privilege 1722 Re-engraved and published by Covens & Mortier in Atlas Nouveau
- State 6 (1745): Philippe Buache imprint added below neatline at right.
- State 7 (1783): Title altered to Carte du Mexique et des Etas Unis d Amerique, Partie Meridionale, issued by Dezauche, showing US States and boundaries.
Condition Report
Paper thickness and quality: - Very heavy and stable
Paper colour: - Off white
Age of map colour: - Original & later
Colours used: - Yellow, green, pink, blue
General colour appearance: - Fresh
Paper size: - 25 1/2in x 21 1/2in (650mm x 545mm)
Plate size: - 24in x 19 1/2in (610mm x 495mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (10mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning in bottom margin
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
Background:
The importance of this landmark map by Guillaume Delisle cannot be overstated. It was the first map to accurately depict the course and mouth of the Mississippi River. Much of the map was drawn from reports brought back to France from the survivor's of the La Salle expedition into the interior of North America and from information derived from the explorations of Bienville and d'Iberville. In the year preceding the publication of the map, Delisle utilised his position with the King of France to gain access to the best available information from the new world.
During this time, he compiled the geographical data from the reports of the French Jesuit Missionaries and explorer's in North America, along with Spanish manuscript maps (often copied by the Missionaries while they were acting in the service of the Spanish as spiritual guides and gaining their confidence). The result of this work were a series of 4 landmark maps of America, including his map of North America (L'Amerique Septentrionale, 1700), Canada and the Great Lakes (Carte du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France 1703) and the Mississippi Valley & Gulf Coast (Carte de la Louisiane et du Cours du Mississipi 1708) and of course this map.
Carl Wheat called this map a "towering landmark along the path of Western cartographic development." De L'Isle's map also inlcuded greater accuracy in the Great Lakes region and in its depiction of English settlements along the East Coast. Excellent detail of the Indian villages in East Texas, based upon the reports of Iberville and the Spanish missionaries. The best depiction of the Southwest to date, with early trails & Indian tribes. Cumming described the map as "profoundly influential. This is a beautifully engraved and hand coloured map by one of the finest French cartographers of the 18th century. (Ref: Cummings; M&B; Tooley)
1722 Guillaume Delisle Large Antique Map of America, True Rare 1st Edition
- Title : Carte D Amerique...1722
- Size: 26 1/2in x 20 1/2in (675mm x 520mm)
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
- Date : 1722
- Ref #: 93338
Description:
This large original copper plate engraved hand coloured antique, true first edition, map of America was published by Guillaume Delisle in 1722.
Even though this map was published for the better part of the 18th century, the date 1722 in the cartouche, was not updated or removed in most instances. This makes identification of the true 1st editions complicated, but not impossible. The design of the cartouche itself is the defining evidence. I have included an image of the 4 different cartouche designs, from Tooleys The Mapping of America that define the different editions. This map is the first edition, state 2, illustrated in the image as No.2.
This 1st edition is a landmark map and one of the most important maps of America published in the early 18th century. So detailed was it, for its day, that it was copied many times over the next 100 years.
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, Green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 26 1/2in x 20 1/2in (675mm x 520mm)
Plate size: - 24 1/2in x 19 1/2in (620mm x 495mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning
Plate area: - Light age toning
Verso: - Light age toning
Background:
Detailed map of America, showing a blank coastline above Cap Blanc and the mythical entry of D\'Aguilar. The map shows tremendous detail throughout. Nice detail in California and the Southwest. The course of the Mississippi si pushed considerably west of its true location, but the Missouri River is shown in a remarkably accurate fashion, with headwaters in the Northern Rocky Mountains. The map is rich with Indian and other early American details. Decorative cartouche, compass rose and extensive notes throughout the map. First edition, 2nd State of the map. A bit of minor soiling, some lifting at the centerfold near the bottom of the map and a bit of wear at the lower centerfold, but generally a fine dark impression of this important early map.
1724 Claude Delisle Large Antique Map of America, New Zealand Western Hemisphere
- Title : Hemisphere Occidental Dresse en 1720 pour l'usage
- Date : 1724
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
- Ref: 81075
- Size: 29 1/2in x 21in (750mm x 535mm)
Description:
This large beautifully hand coloured original copper-plate engraved antique map of the Western Hemisphere, including America & the west coast of New Zealand by Guillaume Delisle was engraved in 1724 - the date is engraved at the bottom of the map - by Joseph de la Haye and was published by in Atlas Nouveau.
Condition Report
Paper thickness and quality: - Very heavy and stable
Paper color: - Off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 29 1/2in x 21in (750mm x 535mm)
Plate size: - 24in x 18 1/2in (610mm x 470mm)
Margins: - min. 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
Background:
Claude de L isle was responsible for some of the most accurate maps of America avaialble in the early 18th century. Delisle did away with most of the speculative cartography especially of North America and researched his information in finite detail. This can be seen in many ways. The most oblivious is showing California as a Peninsular - which some cartographers did not believe until the 1740's - and the NW region has been left blank, free of speculation. Another noticeable difference is the accurate depiction of the Great Lakes. As with all Delisle's map this is finely engraved with amazing detail and hand colour. The map includes the tracks of many explorers up until 1710. These include Magellan 1520, Halley 1700, de Quiros 1605, de Mendana 1595, de la Maire 1616, Tasman, Halley and others. (Ref: M&B; Tooley)
1725 Delisle Large Antique Map The West Indies - Antilles, Guadeloupe to Granada
- Title : Carte Des Antilles Francois et des Isles Voisines....
- Ref #: 61038
- Size: 25 1/2in x 21 1/2in (650mm x 545mm)
- Date : 1725
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
Description:
This large beautifully hand coloured original antique map of The West Indian Islands of the Antilles - from Guadeloupe to Granada - by Guillaume de L'Isle was published by Covens & Mortier in 1725 .
Condition Report
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - Off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 25 1/2in x 21 1/2in (650mm x 545mm)
Plate size: - 23 1/2in x 18in (600mm x 460mm)
Margins: - min. 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning in margins
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
Background: This map covers the predominately French portion of the West Indies from Guadeloupe to Grenada, including the Grenadines, St. Vincent, Dominica, St. Lucia (Alouise), Barbados, Martinique, and Marie-Galante, among others.
As the title cartouche suggests, Delisle cartographically derived this map almost exclusively from a manuscript produced by Thimothee Peitit, 'Arpenteur Jure de la Martinique' (Royal Surveyor of Martinique). Petit had the challenging task of reconciling local surveys of various islands with the general geography of the West Indies. Delisle copied from Petit's manuscript almost verbatim, a fact that is poignantly illustrated in the erroneous positioning of Grenada, which is both upside-down and situated to the west, rather than to the south, of the lower Grenadines. On Petit's part, this error has been attributed to simply running out of paper combined with an attempt to show the French Antilles within the greater continuity of the Windward Isles. For Delisle this was a major and uncharacteristic misstep that earned considerable critique in scientific and cartographic circles. Nonetheless, this map proved both popular and influential, being slavishly copied extensively by other cartographers of the period (Ref: M&B; Tooley)
1730 Delisle and Covens & Mortier Foundation Antique Map of North America
- Title : L Amerique Septentrionale dressee sur les Observations de Mrs. De L Academie Royale des Sciences & quelques autres & sur les Memoires les plus recens Par G De L Isle A. Amsterdam Chez I Covens & C Mortier Avec Privilege.
- Ref #: 93501-1
- Size: 25 1/2in x 21 1/2in (650mm x 540mm)
- Date : 1700 (1730)
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
Description:
This is without doubt one of the most important foundation maps, of North America, published in the early to mid 18th century. This large original hand coloured copper-plate engraved antique map by Johannes Covens & Pierre Mortier, after Guillaume Delisle, that was published in 1730 in Atlas nouveau de dicerses cartes choisies des Meilleurs Geographes comme Sanson, G De Lisle &c....A Amsterdam.....
The first edition of this map was mistakenly dedicated to Nicolas Sanson, in the title. This oversight was corrected to Delisle in this 1730 edition.
This map is beautiful with original borders beautiful hand colouring on heavy stable paper.
Covens & Mortier (fl 1721-1866) was an eighteenth century cartographic publishing house. The company was founded by Johannes Covens (1697-1774) and Cornelis Mortier (1699-1783) and was located in Vijgendam in Amsterdam .
The collaboration between the two men began after the death of Pieter Mortier (1661-1711), son of a French political refugee. In 1690, Mortier obtained the privilege of distributing maps and atlases from French publishers, in the Netherlands . His widow continued business until his death in 1719 . His son Cornelis took over the business, under the name of his father.
In November 1721 Cornelis Mortier founded a company with Johannes Covens I. He was married in the same year to Corneliss sister. Thus the company of Covens & Mortier was born.
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 25 1/2in x 21 1/2in (650mm x 540mm)
Plate size: - 23in x 19in (585mm x 490mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
Background:
There are many reasons why this rare 1st edition foundation map is important. It contains detail of radical changes both to the interior of North America and helps debunk many fundamentally held ideas of the coastlines. Some of these ideas included The Great lakes, California as an island and previously invented ideas of the interior, NW & NE coastlines.
Specifically the shape of the Great Lakes are changed based on information from the great Italian cartographer Vincenzo Coronelli.
The Mississippi valley is well developed with recent French settlement of d\\\'Iberville at Bilochy and the forts at Bon Secours and St Louis. The map also corrects the error of the western swing of the lower part of the Mississippi River, moving its mouth to essentially its correct position on the Gulf of Mexico.
Delisle has also corrected longitude positions and was the first to revert to a peninsular form for California. He stops his western coast at Cape Mendocin and is the first map to show the Saragossa Sea.
The map also illustrates the routes of explorers such as Cortez, Drake, D\\\'Olivier, Gaeten and Mendana, and indicates the locates of a number of Indian tribes, including the Apaches.
As this is a French map we see many of the French strong points in the NE such as Tadousac, Quebec, Fort Sorel, Montreal & Fort Frontenac included. The English settlements are confined to the east of the Alleghenies, with Fort and River Kinibeki as the border between New England and Arcadia.
Such was the improvement of this map, and the sterling reputation of Delisle, that within a few years other publishers issued their own copies of the map, which continued to appear until the 1780s. The importance of this map cannot be overstated in the progression of American cartography. (Ref: M&B; Tooley)
1730 Delisle Large Antique Map of South America
- Title : L Amerique Meridionale
- Date : 1730
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
- Ref: 60535
- Size: 24 1/2in x 21in (625mm x 535mm)
Description:
This large beautifully engraved hand coloured original antique map of South America by Guillaume Delisle was published by Covens and Mortier in the 1730 edition of Atlas Nouveau.
This important map of South America is cartographically unchanged from the 1st 1700 edition. The figures of Neptune and an Indian are incorporated into the title cartouche which was designed and engraved by Nicolas Guerard. The entire title cartouche is printed from a separate plate.
Also illustrated are the tracks of the explorers Sir Francis Drake, Olivier, Mendana, Le Maire Magellan and Sarmiento in the Pacific.
The southern extremity is shown curving to the west and the land extends to longitude 293°. (Ref: M&B; Tooley)
Condition Report
Paper thickness and quality: - Very heavy and stable
Paper color: - Off white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Yellow, green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 24 1/2in x 21in (625mm x 535mm)
Plate size: - 23in x 19in (585mm x 480mm)
Margins: - min. 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Light discolouration in bottom margin
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
1740 Guillaume Delisle Original Antique Atlas Title Page for Atlante Novissimo
- Title : Atlante Novissimo De Sig Guglielmo De L Isles
- Size: 15in x 10in (380mm x 255mm)
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
- Date : 1740
- Ref #: 70343
Description:
This fine original copper-plate engraved antique frontispiece from the Italian version of Guillaume Delisle atlas Atlante Novissimo, was published by Girolamo Albrizzi in 1740.
The architectural columns are flanked by both male & female Roman soldier. At the top of the structure, a pair of putti hold aloft the covering drapes. Within the structure are two internal cartouche, one a vignette view of the city of Venice, where the atlas was published, and above, the symbol for the Society of Jesus.George PhilipDelisle
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 15in x 10in (380mm x 255mm)
Plate size: - 12in x 8 1/2in (305mm x 215mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
1740 Guillaume Delisle Original Antique Atlas Title Page of Atlante Novissimo
- Title : Atlante Novissimo Del Sig. r Guglielmo De L Isle
- Size: 15in x 10in (380mm x 255mm)
- Ref #: 70345
- Date : 1750
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
Description:
This fine original copper-plate engraved antique frontispiece from the Italian version of Guillaume Delisle atlas Atlante Novissimo, was published by Girolamo Albrizzi in 1740.
The architectural columns are flanked by both male & female Roman soldier. At the top of the structure, a pair of putti hold aloft the covering drapes. Within the structure are two internal cartouche, one a vignette view of the city of Venice, where the atlas was published, and above, the symbol for the Society of Jesus.
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 15in x 10in (380mm x 255mm)
Plate size: - 12in x 8 1/2in (305mm x 215mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
1745 Claude Delisle Large Antique Map of America - Magnificent Landmark Map
- Title : Carte D Amerique...Par Guillaume Delisle...1722
- Date : 1722 (1745)
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
- Ref: 50603
-
Size: 28in x 22in (710mm x 560mm)
This large, beautifully engraved, hand coloured original antique map of America, was published in 1722 by Claude de L'Isle (Delisle) and re-issued - cartographically unchanged - by Phillip Bauche in 1745 - both dates are engraved in the title cartouche and at the foot of the map. This is a landmark map and one of the most important maps of America published in the 18th century. So detailed was it, for its day, that it was copied many times over the next 100 years.
Condition Report
Paper thickness and quality: - Very heavy and stable
Paper color: - Off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 28in x 22in (710mm x 560mm)
Plate size: - 24 ½in x 19 ½in (620mm x 495mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Toning along centrefold, professional restoration to small worm holes adjacent to Caribbean
Verso: - Toning along centrefold
Background: The map has an immense amount of detail regarding North America. In California and the Southwest the west coast is taken north to Cap Mendocin and Cap Blanc, with the notation, "Entrée decouverte par Martin d'Aguilar." Wagner notes "Briggs names with some of the corrections made by Blaeu. The Mediterranean Sea of California has disappeared. Delisle retained Cabrillo's B. de Pinos and introduced a few, the I. Ste Anne, the B. de St. Martin, and the B. de la Medelaine, from other maps. It seems likely that he had read the account of the Vizcaino expedition Torquemada... On the Sonora coast the names are much the same as those on his 1700 map with a few additions from Kino's map and other sources in Sonora. The course of the Mississippi is pushed considerably west of its true location, but the Missouri River is shown in a remarkably accurate fashion, with headwaters in the Northern Rocky Mountains. The look of the Great Lakes take on a more realistic form, the original Colonial States are represented and as can be expected from a French map of the period France through Louisiana claims most of south middle and north America. The map is rich with Indian and other early American details. (Ref: M&B; Tooley)
1780 Large Delisle Antique Map of Nothern Greece, Macedonia, Thracia, Turkey
- Title : Graeciae Pars Septentrionalis Par Guill. Delisle.....1780
- Ref #: 20404
- Size: 30in x 22in (765mm x 560mm)
- Date : 1780
- Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
Description:
This large beautifully engraved hand coloured original antique map of Northern Greece, Macedonia, Thracia by Guillaume Delisle was engraved by Philip Bauche and published in 1780 - the date is engraved in the scale cartouche (Ref: M&B; Tooley)
Condition Report
Paper thickness and quality: - Very heavy and stable
Paper color: - Off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 30in x 22in (765mm x 560mm)
Plate size: - 26in x 18 1/2in (660mm x 470mm)
Margins: - min. 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Light browning to bottom left & right margin corners. Three reapirs to margins, no loss
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
1788 Delisle & Bauche Large Original Antique Map of Scandinavia, Estonia, Latvia
- Title : Carte Des Courons Du Nord Comprenant La Suede, Le Danemarc, &c....1788
- Date : 1788
- Size: 35in x 28 1/2in (890mm x 725mm)
- Ref #: 16301
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
Description:
This large beautifully hand coloured original 1788 antique map of Scandinavia, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia was engraved in 1788 - the date is engraved in the title - by Jean Nicolas Buache, after Guillaume Delisle, and was published by Delisle's successor Jean Nicolas Buache.
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 35in x 28 1/2in (890mm x 725mm)
Plate size: - 32 1/2in x 24 1/2in (825mm x 625mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Light creasing
Verso: - None
Background:
Before the fifteenth century the people of Southern Europe had little geographical knowledge of the Scandinavian World except from sketchy detail shown in the Catalan Atlas (1375) and on a number of " portolani" embracing Denmark and the southern tip of Norway. It was not until 1427 that a manuscript map prepared about that time by Claudius Clavus (b.1388) a Dane who spent some time in Rome, made available to scholars a tolerable outline of the northern countries and Greenland. That was to remain the best map available for the rest of the century and it was used as the basis for maps of Scandinavia in early printed editions of Ptolemy. Others by Nicolaus Cusanus (1491) and Ehrhard Etzlaub (c. 1492) followed but, needless to say, these are extremely rare; even the later maps by Olaus Magnus and Marcus Jordan, where they have survived at all , are known only by a very few examples. In fact, apart from the rare appearance of an early Ptolemy map, the oldest of Scandinavia which a collector is likely to find are those of Munster's Cosmograhy first published in 1544. In the following centuries the few maps and charts complied in Scandinavia were usually published in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Paris or Nuremberg, the most important maps often being incorporated in the major Dutch, French & German Atlases. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)
Philippe Buache 1700 - 1773 was a French geographer who married the daughter of and trained under the famous French geographer Guillaume Delisle. He succeeded Delisle to the Académie des sciences in 1730. Buache was nominated first geographer of the king in 1729. He established the division of the world by seas and river systems and believed in the concept of a separate southern continent, an hypothesis which was confirmed by later discoveries. In 1754, he published an "Atlas physique." He also wrote several pamphlets.
His nephew, Jean Nicolas Buache 1741- 1825, succeeded his uncle in both in his business and as geographer of the king after his death.
1808 Jean Henri Cless Antique Print of The Cartographer Guillaume Delisle
- Title : Guillaue De L Isle Geb. zu Paris d. 28 Febr. 1675 gest. ebendas d. 25 Jan 1726
- Date : 1808
- Size: 7in x 4 1/2in (180mm x 115mm)
- Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
- Ref: 91417
Description:
This original copper-plate engraved antique print, a portrait of the famous cartographer Guillaume Delisle, by Jean Henri Cless was published in 1808 in Allgemeine Geographische Ephemeriden' (Universal Geographical Ephemerides (i.e. encyclopedia) by Friedrich Bertuch
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 7in x 4 1/2in (180mm x 115mm)
Plate size: - 5 1/2in x 3 1/2in (140mm x 90mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
Background:
Following the long period of Dutch domination, the Homann family became the most important map publishers in Germany in the eighteenth century, the business being founded by J.B. Homann in Nuremberg about the year 1702. Soon after publishing his first atlas in 1707 he became a member of the Berlin academy of Sciences and in 1715 he was appointed Geographer to the Emperor. After the founder's death in 1724, the firm was continued under the direction of his son until 1730 and was then bequeathed to his heirs on the condition that it trades under the name of Homann Heirs. The firm remained in being until the next century and had a wide influence on map publishing in Germany. Apart from the atlases the firm published a very large number of individual maps.
The Homman's produced a Neuer Atlas in 1714, a Grosser Atlas in 1737, and an Atlas Maior with about 300 maps in 1780. They also issued a special Atlas of Germany with full sized plans of principal cities, school atlases and an Atlas of Silesia in 1750 with 20 maps.
Cless, Jean Henri 1774- 1812
A pupil of Jacques-Louis David , he began to be active around 1800 and exhibited in Paris at the Salons from 1804 to 1808.
According to the Thieme-Becker 2 artistic dictionary , he returned to Alsace in 1811 , where many private collections hold his works.
Cless was also a draftsman and miniaturist .