France vs. England: The Fight for Control over North America
As the Netherlands and Spain faded as North American Colonial powers at the turn of the 18th Century, France and England remained. The bitter battle for geographic dominance can be observed through two great maps. Herman Moll's (English) 1715 'Beaver Map' and Guillaume De L'isle's (French) 1718 'Carte de la Louisiane' both claim the same land for their respective countries.
DE L'ISLE, GUILLAUME (1675-1726). CARTE DE LA LOUISIANE ET DU COURS DU MISSISSIPI. PARIS: QUAY DU HOROLOGE, 1718
DE L'ISLE, Guillaume (1675-1726). Carte De La Louisiane Et Du Cours Du Mississipi sur un grand nombre de Memoires entrautres sur ceux de Mr. le Maire. Paris: Quay du Horologe, 1718.
Single sheet (20 x 26 1/2 inches; 29 3/4 x 36 1/4 inches, framed). Delicate original coloring (some discoloration at center fold).
As one of the most important and influential maps of the 18th Century, this map is considered to be the main source of all subsequent maps of the Mississippi and the Western regions of the United States.
The accuracy of Delisle's cartography accounts for its primacy, as commissioned Jesuit missionary Jacque le Maire to travel to Louisiana to correct earlier versions of his map, specifically the correct position of the mouth of the Mississippi River. This is an example of Delisle taking care to advertise his use of the direct sources in that he used le Maire's name in the title of the work itself. Delisle would become known as one of the first truly professional cartographers because of his attention to accuracy and strict scrutiny of all new reports from the New World to improve his craft.
One of the first printed maps to name Texas, it was a seminal depiction of the Mississippi that was enormously influential on subsequent cartography of the region. This map was the first to reflect accurately the routes of Hernando de Soto, Henry de Tonty, and Louis de St. Denis. Because of its accurate information on the Mississippi and its tributaries, this map served throughout the eighteenth century as the prototype for most subsequent renderings of that great river.
It was, moreover, a politically provocative and aggressive map: what Delisle labeled Florida in 1703 now appeared as the unmistakably French territory of Louisiana, stretching from the Rio Grande in the west to the Appalachians in the east. Delisle also pushed the boundary line of the English colonies closer to the Atlantic. Angry protests from the British and Spanish governments against this cartographic usurpation were followed by a cartographic war, in which the map makers of each country issued productions showing their own territorial claims.
Politics aside, Delisle's rendering of Texas was a distinct improvement over previously published attempts. It featured an improved depiction of the river system and a much more accurate view of the coast. It also credibly delineated for the first time the land routes of all of the important explorers, including de Soto and Moscoso in 1540 and 1542, La Salle in 1687, and de Leon in 1689. Delisle's sources were also clearly revealed by the many references to St. Denis's explorations; the currency of his information was evident from the appearance of Natchitoches on the Red River, founded only the year before the map was printed. Throughout the map are the ranges of many Indian tribes and the locations of their villages, while boldly displayed along the Texas coast is the legend 'nomadic and man-eating Indians.' The most important notation to Texas history, however, was that appearing along the Trinity: 'Mission de los Tiejas, etablie in 1716.' Referring to the earliest of the Spanish missions in East Texas, this phrase marked the first appearance of a form of the name Texas on a printed map and thus Delisle has received proper credit for establishing Texas as a geographic place name. This is an exceptionally important map for the cartography of the Mississippi, Florida, Texas, and the South. For all inquires please contact Greg McMurray, MLS, Director, Rare Books.
Single sheet (20 x 26 1/2 inches; 29 3/4 x 36 1/4 inches, framed). Delicate original coloring (some discoloration at center fold).
As one of the most important and influential maps of the 18th Century, this map is considered to be the main source of all subsequent maps of the Mississippi and the Western regions of the United States.
The accuracy of Delisle's cartography accounts for its primacy, as commissioned Jesuit missionary Jacque le Maire to travel to Louisiana to correct earlier versions of his map, specifically the correct position of the mouth of the Mississippi River. This is an example of Delisle taking care to advertise his use of the direct sources in that he used le Maire's name in the title of the work itself. Delisle would become known as one of the first truly professional cartographers because of his attention to accuracy and strict scrutiny of all new reports from the New World to improve his craft.
One of the first printed maps to name Texas, it was a seminal depiction of the Mississippi that was enormously influential on subsequent cartography of the region. This map was the first to reflect accurately the routes of Hernando de Soto, Henry de Tonty, and Louis de St. Denis. Because of its accurate information on the Mississippi and its tributaries, this map served throughout the eighteenth century as the prototype for most subsequent renderings of that great river.
It was, moreover, a politically provocative and aggressive map: what Delisle labeled Florida in 1703 now appeared as the unmistakably French territory of Louisiana, stretching from the Rio Grande in the west to the Appalachians in the east. Delisle also pushed the boundary line of the English colonies closer to the Atlantic. Angry protests from the British and Spanish governments against this cartographic usurpation were followed by a cartographic war, in which the map makers of each country issued productions showing their own territorial claims.
Politics aside, Delisle's rendering of Texas was a distinct improvement over previously published attempts. It featured an improved depiction of the river system and a much more accurate view of the coast. It also credibly delineated for the first time the land routes of all of the important explorers, including de Soto and Moscoso in 1540 and 1542, La Salle in 1687, and de Leon in 1689. Delisle's sources were also clearly revealed by the many references to St. Denis's explorations; the currency of his information was evident from the appearance of Natchitoches on the Red River, founded only the year before the map was printed. Throughout the map are the ranges of many Indian tribes and the locations of their villages, while boldly displayed along the Texas coast is the legend 'nomadic and man-eating Indians.' The most important notation to Texas history, however, was that appearing along the Trinity: 'Mission de los Tiejas, etablie in 1716.' Referring to the earliest of the Spanish missions in East Texas, this phrase marked the first appearance of a form of the name Texas on a printed map and thus Delisle has received proper credit for establishing Texas as a geographic place name. This is an exceptionally important map for the cartography of the Mississippi, Florida, Texas, and the South. For all inquires please contact Greg McMurray, MLS, Director, Rare Books.
MOLL, HERMAN (1654-1732). A NEW AND EXACT MAP OF THE DOMINIONS OF THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN ON YE CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA. LONDON: THOS: LOWNDES, JOHN BOWLES, AND I. KING, 1715.
2 sheets joined, float-mounted and framed (sheet size: 23 6/8 x 40 2/8 inches, full margins showing the plate mark; framed size: 29 x 45 inches). AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE engraved map of North America, the title within an elegant frame at the top, the dedication to William Dowglass "Captain General of all ye Leeward Islands in America by Queen Anne" within an elaborate armorial cartouche lower center, five detailed inset maps or scenes added in lower portion, including "A Map of the Improved Part of Carolina", "A Map of the Principal Part of North America", the celebrated "A View of ye Industry of Beav
2 sheets joined, float-mounted and framed (sheet size: 23 6/8 x 40 2/8 inches, full margins showing the plate mark; framed size: 29 x 45 inches). AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE engraved map of North America, the title within an elegant frame at the top, the dedication to William Dowglass "Captain General of all ye Leeward Islands in America by Queen Anne" within an elaborate armorial cartouche lower center, five detailed inset maps or scenes added in lower portion, including "A Map of the Improved Part of Carolina", "A Map of the Principal Part of North America", the celebrated "A View of ye Industry of Beav
One of the most important maps of the 18th century relating to America, this was the first large-scale map to show English developments in North America, and also the first to show the American postal routes. Minutely detailed and finely engraved, this map includes some of the most thorough and exact detail to grace any 18th century map. It includes insets of Thomas Nairne’s important and early map of South Carolina, the English, French and Indian settlements in the Carolinas, and Charleston Harbor. Moll’s celebrated depiction of beavers at work occupies an inset at right, a view of Niagara Falls (and several of its inhabitants).
Moll emigrated to London from Germany in about 1675. By 1678 he is recorded as working for the map-maker Moses Pitt as an engraver and frequenting famous Jonathan's Coffee House, where he mingled with the likes of Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, the buccaneers William Dampier and Woodes Rogers, John Oldmixon, Thomas Salmon, Samuel Simpson, and for all of whom he made maps to accompany their works. "Moll first gained notice in London in the late 1670s as a fine engraver working for map publishers such as Moses Pitt, Sir Jonas Moore, the royal hydrographer Greenville Collins, John Adair, [Jeremiah] Seller and [Charles] Price, and others. What can be identified as his two earliest maps-'America' and 'Europe' respectively-and bearing the imprint 'H. Mol schulp.' appeared in Moore's 'A New Systeme of the Mathematicks Containing … a New Geography' in 1681… Moll worked increasingly independently. He published his first solo volume, the now rare 'Atlas Thesaurus' in 1695, and in 1701, by which time he worked completely on his own, he published his first major work, 'A System of Geography', an informative global geography with a full complement of crisp, straightforward maps that sold initially for 18s. a copy. Although relatively traditional and derivative, it helped to establish him as an independent geographer-cartographer.
"Moll's reputation rests upon a long and extremely fertile career of almost sixty years that yielded a diverse offering of over two dozen geographies, atlases, and histories and a myriad of individual maps, charts, and globes, spanning the known earth. Through his many works, he had also had an impact beyond geography and cartography on his adopted country and its future by graphically staunchly advocating early British expansion and empire" (Dennis Reinhartz for DNB).
Comments
Post a Comment