1755 Partie Occidentale de la Nouvelle France ou du Canada...
By: Jacques Nicolas Bellin / Homann Heirs
Date: 1755 (dated) Nuremberg
Dimensions: 16.75 x 21.25 inches (42.5 x 54 cm)
A landmark map of the Great Lakes that introduced more accurate geography of the region than all other preceding maps. Originally engraved by Jackques Bellin in 1745, the map was re-issued by Johann Baptiste Homann in 1755 when both Great Britain and France were heavily engaged in the French and Indian War.
The map integrates the work of French fur trader and Explorer Sieur la Verendrye and the explorer / missionary Father Pierre de Charlevoix. From Verendrye's journals came the placement of numerous indian villages and nations as well as some of the form of the Great Lakes and their attached river systems. Charlevoix can be referred to as the origin for the fictitious Lake Superior islands, Phillipeaux, Pontchartrain, and St. Anne. This was the first of many maps to include the famous ghost islands of Lake Superior which perplexed explorers for nearly 100 years.
Throughout the map are numerous French forts and missions including Fort Frontenac, Fort Niagara, Mission Francois Xavier, and Port de Checagou, which is now the site of present day Chicago. The lower right hand section of this map displays a common ploy used to flatter his royal patrons in Paris. The proportional size of the English colonial holdings in New York, Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are reduced in an attempt to metaphorically advance the supremacy of French control in North America.
Condition: Map is in A condition with original outline coloring, and wide margins on all sides with a few tears that do not come anywhere close to the image.
Inventory #11643
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