| Summary: | 18th century Copper engraving. Relief shown pictorially. Printed in cartouche in bottom of map: "L'Amerique Meridionale et Septentrionale Dresée selon les dernieres Relations et suivant les Nouvelles Decouvertes dont les points principaux sont places sur les Observations de Mrs. de l'Accademie Royale des Sciences. Par N. de Fer." Printed in lower left corner: "A Paris Cher l'Autheur dan l'Isle du Palais Sur le Quay de l'Orloge a la Sphere Royale Avec priv. du Roy 1717." Printed in lower right corner in decorative cartouche is a scale with "C. Inselin Scripsit" printed in border of cartouche. Printed in cartouche in upper left corner: "Dresée et Dediée A Nosseigneurs les Enfans de France. Par leur tres humble et tres Obeissant Servietuer de Fer. Geogr. De Mgr. Le Dauphin" Printed on second leaf accompanying map: "Description del'Amerique par de Fer. L'Amerique est borne au Septentrion, par les terres Arctiques, au Midy par la Mer Magelanique, a l'Orient par la Mer du Nord, et a l'Occident par la Mer Pacifique ou du Sud. Elle fut decouverte en 1492…" A crown and feathers are depicted around the border of the dedication cartouche in the upper left corner. New Zealand and the Solomon Islands are shown. Of note, California is depicted as an island. The Canary Islands, the Cabo Verde islands and the Azores are displayed prominently off the coast of Africa. Scale: c.a. 1:60,000,000. Nicolas de Fer (1646-1720) was a cartographer, a publisher and Royal Geographer in France. He was quite prolific, producing more than 600 maps including atlases, wall maps and sheet maps. In fact, he was able to publish three major atlases within a five-year span between 1700 and 1705. Much of his work includes maps of France and Europe. However, he is well known for his ornate decoration rather than accurate depictions. He was succeeded by his sons-in-law, J. F. Benard and G. Danet. His best known works include: “Costes de France” (1690), “Liége etc.” (1693), “Introduction á la Fortification” (1693), “Atlas Royal” (1695, 1699-1702), “Petit Atlas” (1697), “Atlas Curieux” (1700-1705), “Atlas ou Recueil de Cartes Géog.” (1709-22), “Introduction á la Géog.” (1717), “Californie” (1720) (Tooley, “Tooley’s Dictionary of Mapmakers,” 206; Moreland and Bannister, 130; Portinaro and Knirsch, 314). Originally, this map was first issued in 1699. It was reissued in 1705 without any changes and again issued in 1717, this time with a new imprint including publication information. According to McLaughlin and Mayo, there are a total of six different states of the map starting with 1699 and ending in 1742 (55, entry 127). In this particular map, California is shown as an island, a common occurrence despite the fact that exploration information from Jesuit Father Kino revealed that California was a peninsula in 1705 (Tooley, “California as an Island,” 61; Wheat, 66; Wagner, 324). Source(s): McLaughlin, Glen and Nancy H. Mayo. “The Mapping of California as an Island: An Illustrated Checklist.” Saratoga, CA: California Map Society, 1995. Moreland, Carl and David Bannister. “Antique Maps: A Collector’s Handbook.” New York: Longman Group, Ltd., 1983. Portinaro, Pierluigi and Franco Knirsch. “The Cartography of North America 1500-1800.” New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1987. Tooley, Ronald Vere. “Tooley’s Dictionary of Mapmakers.” Hertfordshire: Map Collector Publications Limited, 1979. ---. “California as an Island: A Geographic Misconception Illustrated by 100 Examples from 1625 to 1770.” London: Map Collector’s Circle, 1964. Wagner, Henry R. “The Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America to the year 1800 Volume 2.” Berkeley: University of California Press, 1937. Wheat, Carl I. “Mapping the Transmississippi West.” Volume 1. San Francisco: Institute of Historical Cartography, 1957.
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