CARTE DU ROYAUME DU MEXIQUE ET DE LA FLORIDE

Key Properties

Edition: From Atlas Historique, vol. VI

Language: French

Collation & Technical Description

Copper engraving with hand-colouring. Approx. 21½ × 17¾ in. Depicts Mexico, Florida, the American east coast, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes region, after Guillaume Delisle.

Condition

The photograph shows a normal centre fold, light discolouration and some foxing along the edges. The sheet otherwise appears complete, with generous margins and no major damage.

References & Bibliography

From H. A. Chatelain, Atlas Historique, Amsterdam, c. 1719 (vol. VI).

After Guillaume Delisle's influential mapping of Mexico, Florida and the Gulf.

Description

This sheet from Chatelain's Atlas Historique shows Mexico, Florida, the American east coast, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and the region around the Great Lakes. The map derives from the influential cartography of Guillaume Delisle.

Of particular historical interest is the depiction of the region between Florida and present-day Texas as an extensive French sphere of influence. The sheet also carries a great deal of information on English settlements along the east coast, the Gulf Coast, and Spanish missions in New Mexico.

The American subject gives this map broad appeal. The note of ‘professional hand-colouring’ most probably indicates later colour: attractive for display, but generally less prized than demonstrably contemporary colour.

Notable features: Strong American subject: Texas, Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean; Based on Delisle's important cartographic model; Good decorative appeal through its format and colour.

Historical Significance

Reflects Delisle's authoritative early-eighteenth-century mapping of the Gulf region and the competing French, English and Spanish claims in North America.

Provenance

Not established.