1963 Derveaux Map of Cheese Makers and Wineries in France

French wine and cheese.

This is a 1963 Daniel-Louis Derveaux map of France, illustrating French wine and cheese regions. It is part of a popular series of historical and thematic maps issued by Derveaux between 1960 and 1980. His maps mimic the cartographic style of Homann and Blaeu, but incorporate modern thematic content.

A Closer Look

The map depicts France from the English Channel and Belgium and Luxembourg to the Mediterranean Sea and from the Bay of Biscay to Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Entitled Païs de Cocagne ('Land of Plenty'), Derveaux may also be referring to the land of Cockaigne or Cockayne, which is defined as a land of plenty in medieval myth; an imaginary place of extreme luxury and ease where physical comforts and pleasures are always immediately at hand and where the harshness of medieval peasant life does not exist. Here, the 'plenty' is most certainly French cheese and wine.France's famed cheeses are labeled throughout the country, with distinctions made between cheese made with ewe's milk (blue), goat's milk (yellow), and cow's milk (brown). Nearly every region in France specializes in its own cheese, with a few exceptions.

French wine regions are highlighted with shading. The more famous are labeled, such as the Muscadet, the Loire Valley, the Crus du Jura, the Vignobles du Languedoc, Burgundy, and Bordeaux. Two inset maps along the right border bring the vaunted Burgundy and Bordeaux wine regions into greater focus.

Aside from highlighted cheese and wine, Derveaus also includes comic elements. The surrounding countries are labeled with humorous names such as Païs des Buveurs de Thé ('Land of Tea Drinkers' / UK), Roïaume de la Choucroute,('Kingdom of Sauerkraut' / Germany), Païs des Buveurs de Biere ('Country of Beer Drinkers' / Belgium), and Païs des Mangeurs de Pates ('Country of Pasta Eaters' / Italy).

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Daniel-Louis Derveaux in 1963. It is part of a series of thematic Derveaux maps designed to emulate 18th-century Dutch and German cartographers such as J. B. Homann. In all, Derveraux produced about 50 historical and thematic maps, the most famous being his map of the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

Cartographer

Daniel-Louis Derveaux (August 26, 1914 – November 14, 2010) was a French artist active throughout the 20th century. Derveaux was born in Paris, France. By 18 he had already become an excellent artist, mastering drawing, xylography, and copper engraving. His work is varied, but much of his early work, completed in the 1930s, involved French town and country scenes. He fought part in World War II (1939 - 1945), where he produced numerous cartoons and watercolors lampooning the war-time political environment. He began issuing maps with historical themes around 1942. Over the next 30 years he issued more than 50 geographical maps. Stylistically, Derveaux's maps are a composite of the styles developed by Blaeu and Homann, but embracing themes that would have been unusual in early maps – such as the wines and cheeses of France, the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella, the Knights Templar, the Crusades, and more. Derveaux died in his adopted home of Saint-Malo in 2010. Derveaux produced thousands of prints in his lifetime and sold them through his firm, Editions d'Art Daniel Derveaux. Daniel's son, Pierre Derveaux took over Editions d'Art Daniel Derveaux in 1982 and issued several stylistically similar maps on his own account.   Further Details...

Condition

Excellent. Blank on verso.