1752 Vaugondy Map of the Ancient World in Hemispheres

Vaugondy's curious attempt to contextualize the New World within the sphere of Hellenic tradition.

This is a striking and impressive 1752 map of the world as known by the Ancients by Gilles Robert de Vaugondy. The map depicts the entire world embraced in two hemispherical projections separated by the Vaugondy firm's distinctive bold cartouche work. This map is a curious work following somewhat on Sanson in that it attempts to express the New World (Americas) within the context of Hellenic tradition. All of the place names in the New World are drawn from ancient Greek mythology with Latin quotations by Plato (Critias and Timaeus), Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Medea, et al), Theopompus, and Claudius Aelianus annotating the Western Hemisphere. The New World itself is identified as 'Atlantis Insula' referring to the lost island civilization first brought to light in Plato's Critias and Timaeus.

Vaugondy identifies two cities in the Americas, Machimo or Bellatrix, which is situated on the site of modern-day Mexico City or Aztec Tenochtitlan, and Eusebes, located at the site the ancient Inca capital of Cusco, Peru. Machimos and Eusebes were, according to Theopompus, the two greatest cities of Hyperborea. Hyperborea itself was mythic sometimes utopic continent inhabited by giants, gods, centaurs, and other beasts of legend. The inhabitants of Machimos were warlike, dominated their neighbors, and rich in gold and other treasures - a not inaccurate descriptions of the Aztec Empire. However, Theopompus also suggests that they were also invulnerable to iron - alas if Vaugondy's placement of Machimos is to be believed history has proven otherwise. The Eusebes, on the other hand were a peaceful and pious people more commonly associated with the utopian Hyperborea. It is said that the Eusebes were free from all disease, though alas, if they were indeed the Inca, history again seems counter to legend.

Aside from the map's curious integration with mythic antiquity, the map is consistent with cartographic conventions of the period. The northwestern part of America is left blank and is fully unknown. South America features a large central lake, an unlabeled apocryphal Lago de Xarayes, at the northern terminus of the Paraguay River. Some of the rivers in Patagonia extend from the Atlantic through the Andes nearly to the shores of the Pacific - suggestive of hopeful dreams of an easy river transit through the continent. Central Africa follows on the Ptolemaic model, with the White Nile terminating in dual lakes at the foot of the Montes Luna (Mountains of the Moon). It is noteworthy that the at least one of these lakes is highly similar in form to Lake Malawi or Lake Tanganyika, though ostensibly these lakes had been neither seen nor heard of by Europeans until the mid-19th century. Australia is vaguely represented with a speculative ghosted eastern coastline that connecting it with Tanzania and New Guinea. New Zealand appears embryonically in the lower left quadrant, but is unlabeled. In the South Pacific, various island groups are presented based upon early Spanish expeditions, such as that of Quiros, but are highly speculative and inaccurate.

Elaborate allegorical cartouche work of a rococo ethic occupies the regions between the Hemispheres. The upper cartouche features the map's title surrounded by allegorical representations of Father Time as a winged bearded angel and two putti. The lower cartouche features a textual explanation of the map in Latin. All in all, a fascinating presentation and one of the highlights of Vaugondy and Boudet's impressive 1757 Atlas Universale.

Cartographer

Robert de Vaugondy (fl. c. 1716 - 1786) was a French publishing firm run by Gilles (1688 - 1766) and Didier (c. 1723 - 1786) Robert de Vaugondy. They were map publishers, engravers, and cartographers active in Paris during the mid-18th century. Gilles was the nephew of Pierre Moulard Sanson, and was thus the inheritor of Nicolas Sanson (1600 - 1667), whose stock supplied much of their initial material and whose legacy supplied much of their initial reputation. Graduating from Sanson's maps, Gilles, and more particularly Didier, began to produce their own substantial corpus. The Vaugondys were well-respected for the detail and accuracy of their maps, for which they capitalized on the resources of 18th-century Paris to compile the most accurate and fantasy-free maps possible. The Vaugondys compiled each map based on their own geographic knowledge, scholarly research, journals of contemporary explorers and missionaries, and direct astronomical observation. Moreover, unlike many cartographers of this period, they took pains to reference their sources. Nevertheless, even in 18th-century Paris, geographical knowledge was limited - especially regarding those unexplored portions of the world, including the poles, the Pacific Northwest of America, and the interiors of Africa, Australia, and South America. This gap in knowledge let to divergent geographical approaches, epitomized by the Buache-Vaugondy debates at the French Academie des Sciences - one of the key pivotal moments in the history of modern cartography. Buache, in his Exposé, argued for a Theoretical Geography, which postulated that a systematic and scientific approach could accurately fill in the map in advance of actual exploration. Vaugondy's scathing critique of the Exposé, presented as the Considerations, argued for empirical restraint in cartography, suggesting that unexplored areas should simply be left blank and that mapping itself should rely on documentable current discovery. While Bucahe, with more political acumen and connections, initially came out ahead in the debates, the subsequent decades saw voyages of discovery by Captains James Cook, Jean Francois de Galaup de La Perouse, and George Vancouver disprove most of his map. Nonetheless, by that time, Vaugondy, advanced in age, did not live long enough to see his approach become ascendant. Didier died more celebrated than solvent, and his maps were acquired by Jean-Baptiste Fortin, who in 1787 sold them to Charles-François Delamarche (1740 - 1817). Delamarche, more businessman than cartographer, prospered from the Vaugondy maps, but defrauded Vaugondy's widow, Marie Louise Rosalie Dangy, of her rightful inheritance and may even have killed her.   Further Details...

Source

Robert de Vaugondy, G., Atlas Universel, (Paris: Antoine Boudet) 1752.    

The Atlas Universel was the crowning glory of the Robert de Vaugondy firm's atlas production. The atlas was revolutionary on many levels and exemplified the Vaugondy credo commode, complet, univorme, et suive (convenient, complete, uniform, and easy to use). The atlas thus consisted of a wide corpus of maps, both modern and historical, was of moderate height and width, and featured maps of uniform style and structure. They partnered with Antoine Boudet, a shrewd businessman and publisher with whom they had worked previously, to produce the 1752 first edition. To minimize his fiscal risk, Boudet sold the atlas first by subscription using a large prospectus, receiving in the process over 1100 pre-orders. The first edition appeared in 1752 and contained beautifully produced maps with elaborate freshly designed allegorical cartouche work, generally by Pierre-Edme Babel, Pierre Philippe Choffard, and Charles Nicholas Cochin. Most of the maps were engraved by the Delahaye firm, the payment for whose services ultimately led to legal disputes. Despite proving a popular work of astounding quality, the Atlas Universal received harsh criticism from fellow cartographers, particularly Philipppe Buache. Ever at odds with the Vaugondys, Buache's critical perspective may have been influenced more by political maneuvering than academic affront. The atlas was issued in multiple editions between 1752 and 1788. Later editions, issued after 1786, were taken over by Charles Delamarche, who inherited the Robert de Vaugondy firm and assumed Boudet's publication rights.

Condition

Very good. Minor wear along original fold lines. Original platemarks visible. Minor spotting. Print crease across western hemisphere.

References

Rumsey, 3353.001. Pedley, Mary Sponberg Belle et Utile: The Work of the Robert de Vaugondy Family of Mapmakers, 13. Fordham, Studies in Cartobibligraphy p. 165.