1776 Carte des Nouvelles Decouvertes au Nord de la Mer du Sud...
Carte des Nouvelles Decouvertes au Nord de la Mer du Sud, Tant a l' est de la Siberie et du Kamchatka, qu' a l' Ouest de la Nouvelle France
By: Francois Santini
Date: 1776 (published) Venice
Dimensions: 17.25 x 24.5 inches (43.8 cm x 62.2)
This superb example of Santini’s map is the authorized Venice edition of the important map by Delisle/Bauche. It depicts the many discoveries of the Russian expeditions of 1723, 1732 and 1741, and follows the tracks of Bering’s first and second voyages, Joseph Nicolas Delisle’s voyage with Captain Tchirikov in 1741, and follows the tracks of De Frondat’s voyage of 1709. It also follows the route of the Galleons in 1743.
The map’s depiction of the West Coast of North America north of Cap Blanc is fictitious, with a ‘Sea of the West’, Lac Valasco, and the Isle of Bernarda depicted. A network of rivers and lakes make up a ‘Northwest Passage’ which is derived from apocryphal voyages of the Spanish admiral Bartholome de Fonte. Much of Delisle's rendering of the region became the standard until James Cook's third and final voyage from 1776-1780. Until then, Delisle's map was copied by many publishers, including the Italian Santini whose map was later used by Remondini.
The Rococo title cartouche includes a native of Russia’s Kamchatka in the Far East in the upper left corner and an indigenous North American Indian from the area of Louisiana. The cartouche also contains a description of the map and a legend. Distance scales are depicted for a number of countries including France, Russia, Italy and Spain for both land routes and nautical ones.
Joseph Nicolas Delisle spent many years working as a cartographer in Russia, help to found the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg and producing the first Russian Atlas during the reign of Peter the Great, who made it a personal mission of his to integrate his country and people into the "modern world" of their contemporaries in Europe. Upon his return to France, Delisle carried a manuscript map of the north Pacific, including information on northeastern Asia, northwestern America, and the Strait of Anian that divided the two continents. Using this information, he produced an engraved map, which was presented to the French Academy of Sciences in 1750.
Condition: This map is in excellent condition exhibiting a fine impression and hand coloring on heavy paper with full margins on al sides. Some light foxing is apparent, though it is mostly confined to the margins.
Inventory #12276
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