1782 - A fine and rare large original antique maps titled:' MAPPE-MONDE Description du Globe Terrestre Assujettie aux Observations Astronomiques '

Overall size of the map is 48cm x 35cm with large margins perfect for mounting & framing

CONDITION:
Excellent overall condition with hand colouring and the centrefold as issued. Blank on verso.

A highly detailed and decorative map drawn by Jean Janvier depicting the entire world on a Double Hemisphere projection. North America appears with a fair appoximation of accuracy though the western and northwestern regions remain either blank or entirely speculative. Alaska is entirely absent but the Aleutian archipelago does appear in an embryonic form. By contrast the northeast parts of Asia, which had been explosed by Vitus Bering and Tschirikow, are depicted with a fair approximation of accuracy. Both the apocryphal Terre de Game and Terre de la Company appear just northeast of Yedso (Hokkaido). Often called de Gamme Land or Game, these islands were supposedly discovered in the 17th century by a mysterious figure known as Jean de Gama. Various subsequent navigators claim to have seen this land, but it was left to Bering to finally debunk the myth. In 1729, he sailed for three days looking for Juan de Gama land but never found it. Thought it may be little more than a mis-mapping of Hokkaido or the Japanese Kuriles, Gama or Compagnie remained on maps for 50 years following Bering's voyages until the explorations of Cook confirmed the Bering findings. 
The details of New Zealand, Australia and the Northwest Coast of America have all been updated from the 1762 edition of the map.

In South America many of the speculative geographic elements common to earlier maps of the regions, such as El Dorado and Lake Parima, are absent though the Lago de Xarayes does remain. The Xarayes, a corruption of 'Xaraiés' meaning 'Masters of the River,' were an indigenous people occupying what are today parts of Brazil's Matte Grosso and the Pantanal. When Spanish and Portuguese explorers first navigated up the Paraguay River, as always in search of El Dorado, they encountered the vast Pantanal flood plain at the height of its annual inundation. Understandably misinterpreting the flood plain as a gigantic inland sea, they named it after the local inhabitants, the Xaraies. The Laguna de los Xarayes almost immediately began to appear on early maps of the region and, at the same time, took on a legendary aspect as the gateway to the Amazon and the kingdom of El Dorado. 

Africa, as usual, is mapped accurately along the coasts and speculatively in the interior. While numerous tribes, kingdoms, and desert caravan routes are noted, most of the interior is conjectural. The Nile follows the two lake pattern developed in the 15th century on Ptolemaic maps. The gold mining region near the Kingdom of Monomotapa are labeled. South Africa is noted as the home of the Cafrerie and Hottentots. 

The great southern content, a kind of speculative proto-Antarctica common to many early maps, is entirely absent, though several Antarctic islands, including the Cap de la Circoncision (Bouvet's Island) and Lozier's B. de L'Oiseau are noted.

Publisher
Jean Lattre (fl. 1743 - 1793) was a Paris based bookseller, engraver, and map publisher active in the mid to late 18th century. Lattre published a large corpus of maps, globes, and atlases in conjunction with a number of other important French cartographic figures, including Janvier, Zannoni, Bonne and Delamarche. He is also known to have worked with other European cartographers such as William Faden of London and the Italian cartographer Santini. Map piracy and copyright violations were common in 18th century France. Paris court records indicate that Lattre brought charges against several other period map publishers, including fellow Frenchman Desnos and the Italian map engraver Zannoni, both of whom he accused of copying his work. Lattre's offices and bookshop were located at 20 rue St. Jaques, Paris, France.

Cartographers
Rigobert Bonne (1727 - 1794) was one of the most important French cartographers of the late 18th century. Bonne was born in Ardennes at Raucourt, France. He taught himself mathematics and by eighteen was a working engineer. During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), he served as a military engineer at Berg-op-Zoom. In the subsequent years, Bonne became one of the most respected masters of mathematics, physics and geography in Paris.
In 1773, Bonne succeeded Jacques-Nicolas Bellin as Royal Cartographer to France in the office of the Hydrographer at the Depot de la Marine. Working in his official capacity, Bonne compiled some of the most detailed and accurate maps of the period - most on equal-area projection known erroneously as the 'Bonne Projection'. Bonne's work represents an important step in the evolution of the cartographic ideology away from the decorative work of the 17th century and early 18th century towards a more scientific and practical aeshetic. While mostly focusing on coastal regions, the work of Bonne is high regards for its details, historical importance and overall aesthetic appeal. Bonne died of edema in 1794, but his son Charles-Marine Rigobert Bonne continued to publish his work well after his father's death.

Jean or Robert Janvier (fl. 1746 - 1776) was a Paris based cartographer active in the mid to late 18th century. Janvier true first name is a matter of debate, as it appears as it often appears as either Jean or Robert. More commonly, Janvier simply signed his maps Signor Janvier. By the late 18th century Janvier seems to have been awarded the title of "Geographe Avec Privilege du Roi" and this designations appears on many of his latter maps. Janvier worked with many of the most prominent French, English and Italian map publishers of his day, including Faden, Lattre, Bonne, Santini, Zannoni, Delamarche, and Desnos.