1776 Anville / Santini Map of Canada and New England

Essential French and Indian War Map, Made Relevant to the Revolution.

This is Paolo and Francesco Santini's 1776 map of eastern Canada, New England, Acadia, and Newfoundland. Produced to satisfy European interest in the events of the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783), it drew on the best French mapping of the region produced during the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763).

A Closer Look

The map reaches from Philadelphia, in the extreme lower left, to embrace the whole of Newfoundland in the upper right. It thus includes all of New York and New England, the St. Lawrence River, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and parts of Ontario and Quebec. The eastern end of Lake Ontario, as well as Lakes Champlain and George, appear accurately. Quebec's Lake Mistassini is presented as a complex of six connected lakes. The river systems of both Canada and New England are shown in detail.

Bridging Two Wars

D'Anville's 1755 map - of which Santini's work is a faithful copy - was produced in response to the English 1755 John Mitchell map, which was published the same year, in the early years of the French and Indian War. The maps do share some similarities (as indeed did some parts of the Mitchell map resemble D'Anville's 1746 North America). D'Anville's rebuttal removed references to English factories and settlements in contested areas; at the same time, it added detail from French sources that would not have been available to Mitchell. This results in D'Anville's superior representation of the Saint Lawrence Watershed and the regions to the north.  At the dawn of the American Revolution, broad European interest in the conflict created demand for accurate maps of the theater of war; the best French maps dated to the late war with England.

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved in Venice for inclusion in the Francois and Paolo Santinis' 1776 Atlas Universel dressé sur les meilleures Cartes Modernes, published by Remondini. It is based on an example of D'Anville's four-sheet map likely acquired by Francois Santini in Paris. The present map reflects the Quebec and New England sheet as a stand-alone map. The present map is known in two states: the first state bearing the volume and plate number P.11 (as here) and the second lacking the number. Twenty-one examples of the separate map are listed in institutional collections, but as none of these entries reference the plate number, it is impossible to determine a census of the individual states.

Cartographers

Paolo Santini (1729 - June 1793) and his brother Francois [Francesco] Santini (fl. 1776 - 1784) were Italian engravers and map publishers based in Venice. The brothers were born in Venice. They are best known for their Atlas Universel dressé sur les meilleures cartes modernes, a grand atlas presenting state-of-the-art French cartography to a Venetian audience. They drew on the cream of 18th Century French cartographers such as Robert de Vaugondy, Jaillot, De L'Isle, and D'Anville. Their atlas was published by the Remondini house in Venice, who purchased the plates and publishing rights from the Santinis in 1781. Paolo was a priest of the Church of Santa Maria Formosa and a professor of architecture in the public schools of Venice. Moreover, he was an ingenious mechanic and invented a large drill used in the Venetian Arsenal for boring cannons, as well as a cutting instrument designed to verify reliably, under any circumstances, the authenticity of licenses issued to merchant captains. With a zigzag cut made in a single movement of the handle, the original document was divided from its matching counterpart. He appears to have been the primary engraver of the two brothers as well. In addition to maps, he also illustrated and engraved architectural plates. He died in Belluno in June 1793, having traveled there to attend the wedding of a close relative. Francesco is believed to have traveled more broadly, including maintaining an office in Paris, where he purchased many of the maps that would inform the brothers' work. He is known to have associated with several French cartographers of the late 18th century, including Rigobert Bonne. His offices in Paris were located at Rue St. Justine pres de L'Eglise.   Further Details...

Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (1697 - 1782) was perhaps the most important and prolific cartographer of the 18th century. D'Anville's passion for cartography manifested during his school years when he amused himself by composing maps for Latin texts. There is a preserved manuscript dating to 1712, Graecia Vetus, which may be his earliest surviving map - he was only 15 when he drew it. He would retain an interest in the cartography of antiquity throughout his long career and published numerous atlases to focusing on the ancient world. At twenty-two D'Anville, sponsored by the Duke of Orleans, was appointed Geographer to the King of France. As both a cartographer and a geographer, he instituted a reform in the general practice of cartography. Unlike most period cartographers, D'Anville did not rely exclusively on earlier maps to inform his work, rather he based his maps on intense study and research. His maps were thus the most accurate and comprehensive of his period - truly the first modern maps. Thomas Basset and Philip Porter write: "It was because of D'Anville's resolve to depict only those features which could be proven to be true that his maps are often said to represent a scientific reformation in cartography." (The Journal of African History, Vol. 32, No. 3 (1991), pp. 367-413). In 1754, when D'Anville turned 57 and had reached the height of his career, he was elected to the Academie des Inscriptions. Later, at 76, following the death of Philippe Buache, D'Anville was appointed to both of the coveted positions Buache held: Premier Geographe du Roi, and Adjoint-Geographer of the Academie des Sciences. During his long career D'Anville published some 211 maps as well as 78 treatises on geography. D'Anville's vast reference library, consisting of over 9000 volumes, was acquired by the French government in 1779 and became the basis of the Depot Geographique - though D'Anville retained physical possession his death in 1782. Remarkably almost all of D'Anville's maps were produced by his own hand. His published maps, most of which were engraved by Guillaume de la Haye, are known to be near exact reproductions of D'Anville' manuscripts. The borders as well as the decorative cartouche work present on many of his maps were produced by his brother Hubert-Francois Bourguignon Gravelot. The work of D'Anville thus marked a transitional point in the history of cartography and opened the way to the maps of English cartographers Cary, Thomson and Pinkerton in the early 19th century.   Further Details...

Source

Santini, P. and F., Atlas universel dressé sur les meilleures cartes modernes (Venice: Remondini) 1776.    

Condition

Excellent. Some marginal soiling, else fine with original outline color.

References

OCLC 5408206. Rumsey 12039.130. Kershaw, K., Early Printed Maps of Canada, no. 713.