1665 Nicolas Sanson / Levasseur de Beauplan Map of Central Ukraine

Kyiv after Beauplan's Firsthand Survey. During the Russo-Polish War (1654 - 1667).

This is a beautifully engraved 1665 map of central Ukraine by Nicolas Sanson. Published during the Russo-Polish War (1654 - 1667), it is the earliest French iteration of the geography of Franco-Polish cartographer, engineer, and architect Guillaume Levasseur de Beauplan. Beauplan produced the best 17th-century survey of the Dniepr and laid the foundation for the modern mapping of Ukraine.

A Closer Look

The map is focused on the Palatinate of Kyiv: its capital is shown as a walled city with its suburbs, predominantly occupying the west bank of the Dniepr. Among the other cities shown are Poltava, Cherkasy, and Chornobyl. Central to the map is the Dnieper River, from just below the Kodak Fortress (Kudack on the map) to Loyew (Lojowogrod), now in modern-day Belarus on the Ukrainian border. The map presents the Dniepr watershed in detail, with towns named along the banks of the river's many tributaries. The borders of Muscovy and Novgorod appear to the east; Lithuania and Chernihiv lie at the northern border, while Lower Podolia and Bessarabia lie to the southwest. Forests are marked; hills are shown pictorially. The cartouche in the lower left is decorated on a martial theme, with stacked banners and spears in the background. A putto seated to the right of the cartouche carries a bow, and his foot is upon a helmet. These images refer to the region's frequent status as a battlefield during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Historical Context

Between 1630 and 1647, while an artillery captain in the service of Poland, Beauplan had been tasked to build and renovate forts on the eastern frontier of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth along the Dnipro River (including Kudac / Kodak, seen here). The area had long formed a southern frontier of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which saw frequent fighting with Tatars and 'Turks' (both the Ottomans and their allies the Crimean Khanate). When Poland and Lithuania were joined in the late 16th century, the local (Ruthenian) nobility pledged suzerainty to the Commonwealth in exchange for confirmation of their land rights.

During the period in which Beauplan was active there, Ukraine was controlled nominally by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth but was wracked with a series of Cossack uprisings. Beauplan's map was printed the same year as the 1648 revolution under Bohdan Khmelnytsky (c. 1595 - August 6, 1657), which would result in the formation of the Cossack Hetmanate. The revolution also precipitated the Russo-Polish war, which was ongoing when this map was produced: much of the war was fought within the bounds of the map.

Publication History and Census

The map was printed in 1665 for Nicolas Sanson's folio atlas by the firm of Pierre Mariette, with whom the geographer had a long and profitable partnership. We see the map in about a dozen examples in institutional collections. It is scarce on the market.

Cartographers

Nicolas Sanson (December 20, 1600 - July 7, 1667) and his descendants were the most influential French cartographers of the 17th century and laid the groundwork for the Golden Age of French Cartography. Sanson was born in Picardy, but his family was of Scottish Descent. He studied with the Jesuit Fathers at Amiens. Sanson started his career as a historian where, it is said, he turned to cartography as a way to illustrate his historical studies. In the course of his research some of his fine maps came to the attention of King Louis XIII who, admiring the quality of his work, appointed Sanson Geographe Ordinaire du Roi. Sanson's duties in this coveted position included advising the king on matters of geography and compiling the royal cartographic archive. In 1644, he partnered with Pierre Mariette, an established print dealer and engraver, whose business savvy and ready capital enabled Sanson to publish an enormous quantity of maps. Sanson's corpus of some three hundred maps initiated the golden age of French mapmaking and he is considered the 'Father of French Cartography.' His work is distinguished as being the first of the 'Positivist Cartographers,' a primarily French school of cartography that valued scientific observation over historical cartographic conventions. The practice result of the is less embellishment of geographical imagery, as was common in the Dutch Golden Age maps of the 16th century, in favor of conventionalized cartographic representational modes. Sanson is most admired for his construction of the magnificent atlas Cartes Generales de Toutes les Parties du Monde. Sanson's maps of North America, Amerique Septentrionale (1650), Le Nouveau Mexique et La Floride (1656), and La Canada ou Nouvelle France (1656) are exceptionally notable for their important contributions to the cartographic perceptions of the New World. Both maps utilize the discoveries of important French missionaries and are among the first published maps to show the Great Lakes in recognizable form. Sanson was also an active proponent of the insular California theory, wherein it was speculated that California was an island rather than a peninsula. After his death, Sanson's maps were frequently republished, without updates, by his sons, Guillaume (1633 - 1703) and Adrien Sanson (1639 - 1718). Even so, Sanson's true cartographic legacy as a 'positivist geographer' was carried on by others, including Alexis-Hubert Jaillot, Guillaume De L'Isle, Gilles Robert de Vaugondy, and Pierre Duval.   Further Details...

Guillaume Sanson (1633 - 1703) was a French cartographer active in the latter part of the 17th century. He is the son of the legendary cartographer Nicolas Sanson (1600 - 1667), and, along with his brother Adrien Sanson (1639 - 1718), took over the family firm on his father's death. Like his father, Guillaume Louis XIV granted him the official title, Geographe Ordinaire du Roy. Much of his work after 1671 was published in collaboration with Alexis-Hubert Jaillot (c. 1632 - 1712). Although the continued to published new maps, particularly Guillaume Sanson, the firm began to lose prestige and market share. In 1692, the brothers sold their geographical archive to their nephew Pierre-Moulart Sanson (1670 - 1730), who published a map catalog in 1696 and reissued the Sanson atlas. After Pierre-Moulart's death, many of the surviving map plates were acquired by Gilles Robert de Vaugondy, setting the stage for another French cartographic dynasty.   Further Details...

Jean Pruthenus Somer (fl. 1650 - 1665), aka Sommer, also known as Jean Somers Pruthenus ('Pruthenus' means 'The Prussian'), was a Prussian engraver active in Paris in the middle part of the 17th century. Somer worked extensively for Sanson and Mariette, for whom he was the principal map engraver. His imprint appears on many of Sanson's most influential maps.   Further Details...

Source

Sanson, N. and Mariette, P., Atlas du Monde, (Paris) 1665.    

Condition

Excellent. Toned at edges, else a bright example with original outline color.

References

OCLC 495049602. Rumsey 9741.313.