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Description:This large original beautifully hand coloured copper plate antique map of post revolutionary North America & the newly form United States was engraved in 1783 - dated - and was published by Robert De Vaugondy in his large elephant folio Atlas UniversalThis map is in beautiful original condition, original margins, original outline colour on strong sturdy paper with a heavy impression. A must for any collector of maps of historical importance.
General Definitions:Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stablePaper color : - off whiteAge of map color: - OriginalColors used: - Blue, pink, red, green, yellowGeneral color appearance: - AuthenticPaper size: - 27 1/2in x 21 1/2in (700mm x 540mm)Plate size: - 25 1/2in x 18 1/2in (650mm x 465mm)Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:Margins: - NonePlate area: - NoneVerso: - None
Background:This is Robert De Vaugondys 5th State of his North America map and one of the first to show the newly liberated American States, after the American Revolutionary War 1775 - 1783.The maps includes an engraved borderline for the newly founded United States as agreed upon by the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Also, the maps title was altered from earlier states to incorporate the name (in French) for the United States, Etats Unis, which also appears on the map itself. This state includes much other new information along with the place names that were added to the previous state, such as the Newport, New York City, and Bermuda. Florida is shown as an archipelago and the coastline of California is quite curious, with a continuation of the coastline in the inset map of the Northwest showing some of the mythical cartography, such as the Sea of the West and River of the West, which were debated among map scholars and explorers until Captain James Cook dispelled these myths in his three Voyages to the Pacific.The map also locates the area identified as Fou-sang, reflecting the belief that Chinese mariners may have reached America, the location of the mythical colony of Fou-sang. According to some historians such as Charles Godfrey Leland and Joseph de Guignes ( Le Fou-Sang des Chinois est-il lAmérique Mémoires de lAcadémie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, tome 28, Paris, 1761), the distances given by Hui Shen (20,000 Chinese li) would locate Fou-sang on the west coast of the American continent, near British Columbia.