Matthias Albrecht Lotter was a scion of one of the most eminent cartographic dynasties of Europe. He was the son of Tobias Conrad Lotter and grandson of Matthias Seutter. Tobias was apprenticed to Seutter before marrying into the family. The distinctive engraving style and colouring employed by the firm was first pioneered by Johann Baptist Homann in the very early 18th century, under whom Matthias Seutter himself was apprenticed.

Printed on an unusual, large oval projection on two sheets joined, geographically, much of the map was based on Jean Baptiste D’Anville’s map of 1761. However, there were several important new developments recorded post D’Anville’s geography. The major focus of the map is the track of Captain James Cook’s first voyage on HMS Endeavour. This led to major additions and revisions, including addition of the east coast of Australia, now called New South Wales although erroneously joined to Tasman’s mapping of Van Diemen’s Land or modern Tasmania. The other major development shown on the map is Cook’s survey of New Zealand. Again, the landmass had been discovered and named by Abel Tasman in 1642 and 1644 but Cook’s survey is the first time the islands revealed their approximate size and shape.

There is no indication of the Great Unknown Southern Landmass nor the Antarctic islands as proselytised by Philippe Buache. Instead, the south is left intentionally blank below Australia, with the exception of the tiny dot of coastline, “Cap de la Circonsision” discovered by Bouvet in 1739 (now Bouvet Island) together with the unknown “Terre Gerard” added by Lotter, a reference to a much earlier Dutch voyage under Admiral Mahu. The northern hemisphere is quite different, with a vast northern landmass which hints heavily at a connection to North America and a definite connection to Greenland. In the Far East, the mythical Company’s Land, a supposed island or peninsula discovered by Maarten de Vries in 1643 northeast of Japan and claimed on behalf of the Dutch East India Company, still clings stubbornly to existence but more interesting is the veritable archipelago in the Behring Strait, a development by Lotter as D’Anville leaves that area blank or very sparse on the various issues of his map. Included within this group is the island of “Alaschka” one of the earliest uses of the name on a world map.

Among the more interesting features on this map is the mapping of the northwest coast of North America. Lotter includes the mythical River of the West, a supposed mighty river of Mississippi-Missouri proportions which winds its way from roughly the Great Lakes to the west coast and which could provide a navigable route across North America. It was first drawn and popularised by Baron Lahontan at the turn of the 18th century and persisted on maps for nearly a century. D’Anville does include it on his map although both his and Lotter’s version is faint and grudging, making it cartographically clear that its existence is doubtful. More intriguingly, Lotter also adds the mysterious and large land of “Fou Sang” just north of this river. This was a reference to a mythical Chinese province which was first mentioned at the turn of the 6th century AD, supposedly “far to the east of the Empire”. It was visited by a Buddhist monk who then reported on its existence to the current Emperor. This led to an 18th century theory that the Chinese had sailed east across the Pacific and landed on the coast of the North America. One of the main promoters of this theory was Joseph de Guignes, an eminent academic who also believed that the Chinese nation was a long lost colony of Ancient Egypt. The Fusang theory has long been debunked by later academics but its actual meaning or location has never been established.

The example offered for sale is the first edition of 1778 showing Cook’s first voyage and lacking the islands of Hawaii.

Original hand colour. [WLD4182]