1719 Carte Nouvelle de la Grande Tartarie ou de l’Empire du Grand Cham…
DESCRIPTION
This highly detailed engraved map by Chatelain depicts Russia from the Caspian Sea in the southwest and Novaya Zemlya in the north to the Pacific Ocean in the east and Persia, China and Korea along the southern border.
The region of Novaya Zemlya reveals that as late as the early 18th century, there was yet much unknown about the northern reaches of Imperial Russia, as there is no border for a portion of this region. Minute details define the topography of the vast territory, with lakes and enormous river systems delineated, along with mountains and forests, cities, towns and fortifications. An inset of explanatory text in French is in the upper right corner of the map.
Henri Abraham Chatelain (1684-1743) was a Huguenot pastor of Parisian origins. He was a successful businessman, creating lucrative networks in London, The Hague, and then Amsterdam. He is best known for his marvelous Atlas Historique, published in seven volumes between 1705 and 1720. This encyclopedic work was devoted to the history and genealogy of the continents, and discusses such topics as geography, cosmography, topography, heraldry, and ethnography. Published thanks to a partnership between Henri, his father, Zacharie, and his younger brother, also Zacharie, the text was contributed to by Nicolas Gueudeville, a French geographer. The maps were by Henri, largely after the work of Guillaume Delisle. The Atlas Historique offered the general reader a window into the emerging and ever-expanding world of the eighteenth century.
CONDITION
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