1749 Vaugondy Map of Iran and Central Asia

Map of Iran and Central Asia depicting Isfahan and Kandahar.

This is a 1749 Didier Robert de Vaugondy map of Iran and Central Asia. The map depicts from the Ottoman Empire (Iraq) to the Afghan/Indian border and from the Aral Sea and the Caucasus to the Persian Gulf. The Ottoman Empire (Empire du Turc) and Arabia dominate the left side of the map, although Azerbaijan and Georgia are labeled. Iraq (Irac) is labeled, and Baghdad (Bagdad) is present very close to the left border. The Caspian Sea functions as the focal point of the map, descending from the upper border through approximately one third of the map. The Aral Sea is depicted along the top border, but here it is referred to as a lake.

Central Asia is labeled as 'Independent Tartary' (Tatarie Independante) which is comprised by Uzbek Country (Pays des Usbecs). Khorasan (Chorasan) and the great city of Balkh (Balch) are both labeled. The Ancient Greeks knew Balkh as Bactra, and Marco Polo referred to Balkh as 'a great a noble city.' Kandahar (Candahar), one of the major cities in modern Afghanistan, functions here as the name of a city and a region.

In Persia, what is now modern-day Iran, several key cities are labeled. Isfahan (Ispahan) is labeled in bold, block lettering, declaring it's importance to the region. It twice served as the capital of the Persian dynasties, and was particularly respected during the 16th and 17th centuries. Alas, in 1775, the capital was moved from Isfahan to several cities, before finally staying in Tehran. Hormuz (Ormus) and the Strait of Hormuz are both labeled here. The Strait of Hormuz functions as a bottleneck into the Persian Gulf (Golfe Persique), making it one of the most strategic locations in the world today.

Several rivers are depicted, although none of them are labeled. Political divisions are presented through dotted lines, as on all the maps in Vaugondy's Atlas Universel, Portatif et Militaire. Several smaller lakes are labeled, including Lake Van and Lake Chahi as are myriad cities and towns.

This map was published by Gilles Robert de Vaugondy in his Atlas Universel, Portatif et Militaire in the 1749 edition.

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 Portatif, Universel, et Militaire, (Paris: Vaugondy, Durand, Pissot) 1749.    

Condition

Very good. Blank on verso. Original press mark visible.

References

Pedley, M. S., Bel et Utile, p. 198, 388. OCLC 159769840.