• Title : Carte Contenant Le Royaume Du Mexique Et La Floride
• Date : 1719
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
• Ref:  50621
• Size: 23 1/4in x 17 1/2in (590m x 445m) 

Description: 
This large beautifully hand coloured original antique foundation map of North America and the Caribbean - after Delisle landmark map of 1703 - was published by Henri Abraham Chatelain in 1719, in his famous Atlas Historique.

Background:
A very attractive example of Chatelain's issue of Guillaume De L'Isle's foundation map of present-day United States, Central America and the West Indies, originally published in 1703. Guillaume De L'Isle brought a new scientific approach to mapmaking at the end of the seventeenth century and his rigorously prepared maps of all areas became the standards for much of the following century.

Amongst his most important works were those relating to the New World, especially North America, where the recent reports of French travellers into the interior were utilised. Sources for this map - the first to show the lower reaches of the Mississippi accurately - included d'Iberville, Tonty and Le Sueur, Father Gravier, and Bienville (later to become Governor of the French colony of Louisiana). Evidence of the contemporary superiority of De L'Isle's maps lies in the numerous copies, published in Paris, Amsterdam, London and Germany, and the republishing of the original plate over many years. Geographically his maps were as correct, however, this map is also remarkable for De L'Isle's political boundaries which squeeze the English Colonies, on the east coast into a narrow strip, thus allocating the greater part of North America to France. Chatelain's map has a large panel of text describing Mexico and Florida at lower left.

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - White
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Pink, green, yellow, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic 
Paper size: - 23 1/4in x 17 1/2in (590m x 445m)
Plate size: - 20 3/4in x 16 1/4in (530m x 415mm)
Margins: - min. 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections: Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued
Verso: - None