Antique Map North America Usa California Bering Strait Diderot Vaugondy 1751 (1 results)

Copperplate engraving and etching on a verge type hand laid paper with watermark, not visible on every sheet. on paper. Size in cm: The overall size is ca. 44 x 42 cm. The image size is ca. 32 x 30 cm. Size in inch: The overall size is ca. 17.3 x 16.5 inch. The image size is ca. 12.6 x 11.8 inch.Map 4: 'Carte de la Californie et des Pays Nord-Ouest .'. (Map of California and the North East lands seperated from Asia by the Bering Strait.) Diderot's famous 2 on 1 map showing the two early mappings of the west coast of North America, the first after Visscher, the second after Plancius' World map. Both show the Straits of Anian, Quivera, Baja and a similarly projected east-west coastline. The larger map includes more detail along the coastline and in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, as well as a truer orientation of Baja California. Diderot's map were one of the first surveys of comparative cartography, tackling a number of the early misconceptions of the west coast of North America and the North-eastern Asian Coastline. The form an excellent baseline for collections of this region, as the maps they illustrate are generally extremely expensive or impossibly rare. This map originates from the plate section. This old antique print originates from: 'The Encyclopà die ou Dictionnaire raisonnà des sciences, des arts et des mà tiers, par une Socià tà de Gens de lettres.' which was published under the direction of Diderot and d'Alembert, with 17 volumes of text and 11 volumes of plates between 1751 and 1772. It contained 72,000 articles written by more than 140 contributors. This encyclopdia was a massive reference work for the arts and sciences, as well as a means to propagate the ideas of the French Enlightment. The impact of this encyclopedia was enormous.Artists and Engravers: Denis Diderot (1713-1784) was a French philosopher, art critic and writer. Jean le Rond d'Alembert (1717-1783) was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist and philosopher. These plates are engraved by J.A.Defehrt and Bonaventure/Benoit-Louis Prevost after J.R Lucotte or Goussier. Gilles Robert de Vaugondy, a French cartographer with connection to the Sanson family, was born 1688 in Paris. He used Sanson's plates and also acquired plates of Jaillot. His major work was the beautiful "Atlas Universel" first issued in 1757. He died 1766 in Paris.Condition: Excellent. General age related toning. Occasional light staining. Irregular paper edges as issued.Keywords: ANTIQUE MAP-NORTH AMERICA-USA-CALIFORNIA-BERING STRAIT-DIDEROT-VAUGONDY(PCOMAN) A61-18.