Carte d'Amérique, Dressée pour l'instruction
DE L'ISLE, Guillaume

Carte d'Amérique, Dressée pour l'instruction

Jean-Claude Dezauche
1808
Size : 62 x 49 cm
Color : Coloris original
Condition : Très bon
Reference : 475-2
€1,100.00

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Description

Nice example of the Dezauche edition of Delisle's famous map of the Americas. First published in 1722, the map has been extensively updated through numerous revisions.

This one includes information about Cook's discoveries in the Northwest and Alaska in an insert entitled "Supplement a la Partie Nord Ouest de l'Amérique d'après les Découvertes du Capitaine Cook". The newly independent United States extends as far west as the Mississippi River and south to Florida. A garland-style title cartouche and another cartouche containing an advertisement adorn the lower corners. In this edition, the privilege changes from "du Roi" to "l'Auteur Rue des Noyers Garantie Nationale An. 9".

Because of the French Revolution, the royal arms were erased from the cartouche and replaced with ribbons, the king's name was removed from the title, and the date (Year 9) refers to the French Republican calendar of 1800. Tooley p.16 (#16)

DE L'ISLE, Guillaume

Guillaume Delisle (de l'Isle) (1675-1726), is one of the greatest figures of French cartography. The eldest son and pupil of the historian and geographer Claude Delisle, he entered the Academy of Sciences in 1702 to study with the astronomer Jean-Dominique Cassini. He taught geography to the young Louis XV and was the first to receive the title of Premier Géographe du Roi in 1718. Delisle is considered to be at the origin of modern cartography. One of Delisle's main contributions was to make a transition from the decorative maps of the Dutch school to a more scientific approach. He removed the ornamental elements and based his cartography on all available information. Throughout his life he constantly updated his collection of over 100 maps to reflect new discoveries. Thus, his maps give a precise overview of the state of geographic knowledge at the time. Delisle’s was the first to correct the longitudes of America, to discard the well-established fallacy of California as an island, to delineate the Mississippi Valley correctly and to introduce many new name places.