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1693 Mortier Nautical Chart or Map of Western Europe

CostesdeLEurope-mortier-1693
$625.00
Carte Generale Des Costes De L'Europe Sur L'Ocean Comprises depuis Drontheim en Norvege Jusques au Detroit de Gibraltar. Levée et Gravée par Ordre du Roy à Paris 1693. - Main View
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1693 Mortier Nautical Chart or Map of Western Europe

CostesdeLEurope-mortier-1693

Impressive large format nautical chart from the finest 17th century European nautical atlas.

Title


Carte Generale Des Costes De L'Europe Sur L'Ocean Comprises depuis Drontheim en Norvege Jusques au Detroit de Gibraltar. Levée et Gravée par Ordre du Roy à Paris 1693.
  1693 (dated)     23.5 x 33.5 in (59.69 x 85.09 cm)     1 : 5600000

Description


A stunning elephant folio nautical chart or maritime map of the western European coast issued in 1693 by Pierre Mortier and Alexis Hubert Jaillot. Oriented to the west and centered on the British Isles, the chart covers from Trondheim (Dronthem), Norway to Cape Cantin, Morocco, extending eastward as far as Denmark and Holstein, and westward to include the southern coast of Iceland. While there is limited inland detail, as is typical of maritime charts, the coastlines are richly detailed with countless ports, banks, and other geographical features noted. Depth soundings appear along some of the better-known coasts, particularly in the English Channel and North Sea. Deeply engraved rhumb lines crisscross the chart throughout.

Cartographically Mortier derived this map from an earlier map issued by Charles Pène for the prototype edition of the Neptune François. Mortier re-engraved the original plates with greater precision and detail, updating them somewhat, to issue in his 1693 Amsterdam edition of Le Neptune François, considered one of the largest and finest nautical atlases of the 17h century.

CartographerS


Pierre Mortier (January 26, 1661 - February 18, 1711) or Pieter Mortier was a cartographer, engraver, and print seller active in Amsterdam during the later 17th and early 18th centuries. Mortier, then known as Pieter, was born in Leiden. He relocated to Paris from 1681 to 1685, adopting the French name Pierre, which he retained throughout his career. While in France, he developed deep French connections by bringing sophisticated Dutch printing technology and experience to nascent French map publishers such as Guillaume De L'Isle (1675 - 1726), Alexis-Hubert Jaillot (c. 1632 - 1712), and Nicholas de Fer (1646 - 1720). Consequently, much of Mortier's business was built upon issuing embellished high quality editions of contemporary French maps - generally with the permissions of their original authors. In the greater context of global cartography, this was a significant advantage as most Dutch map publishes had, at this point, fallen into the miasma of reprinting their own outdated works. By contrast, the cartographers of France were producing the most accurate and up to date charts anywhere. Mortier's cartographic work culminated in the magnificent nautical atlas, Le Neptune Francois. He was awarded the Privilege, an early form of copyright, in 1690. Upon Pierre's death in 1711 this business was inherited by his widow. In 1721, his son Cornelius Mortier took over the day to day operation of the firm. Cornelius partnered with his brother-in-law Jean Covens to form one of history's great cartographic partnerships - Covens and Mortier - which continued to publish maps and atlases until about 1866. More by this mapmaker...


Alexis-Hubert Jaillot (c. 1632 - 1712) followed Nicholas Sanson (1600 - 1667) and his descendants in ushering in the great age of French Cartography in the late 17th and 18th century. The publishing center of the cartographic world gradually transitioned from Amsterdam to Paris following the disastrous inferno that destroyed the preeminent Blaeu firm in 1672. Hubert Jaillot was born in Franche-Comte and trained as a sculptor. When he married the daughter of the enlumineur de ala Reine, Nicholas Berey, he found himself positioned to inherit a lucrative map and print publishing firm. When Nicholas Sanson, the premier French cartographer of the day, died Jaillot negotiated with his heirs, particularly Guillaume Sanson (1633 - 1703), to republish much of Sanson's work. Though not a cartographer himself, Jaillot's access to the Sanson plates enabled him to publish numerous maps and atlases with only slight modifications and updates to the plates. As a sculptor and an artist, Jaillot's maps were particularly admired for their elaborate and meaningful allegorical cartouches and other decorative elements. Jaillot used his allegorical cartouche work to extol the virtues of the Sun King Louis IV, and his military and political triumphs. These earned him the patronage of the French crown who used his maps in the tutoring of the young Dauphin. In 1686 he was awarded the title of Geographe du Roi, bearing with it significant prestige and the yearly stipend of 600 Livres. Jaillot was one of the last French map makers to acquire this title. Louis XV, after taking the throne, replaced the position with the more prestigious and singular title of Premier Geographe du Roi. Jaillot died in Paris in 1712. His most important work was his 1693 Le Neptune Francois. Jalliot was succeed by his son, Bernard-Jean-Hyacinthe Jaillot (1673 - 1739), grandson, Bernard-Antoine Jaillot (???? – 1749) and the latter's brother-in-law, Jean Baptiste-Michel Renou de Chauvigné-Jaillot (1710 - 1780). Learn More...

Condition


Very good. A few minor verso reinforcement along original fold lines and to margins, especially upper margin.

References


Rumsey 12095.014. OCLC 159834473.