L'Amerique Septentrionale

Foundation map of North America by the first scientific cartographer.
De L`Isle’s map of North America is considered to be one of the most important early pieces of cartographic history of the New World. Due to a series of historical circumstances in the late 17th and early 18th century, the French military, Navy and private enterprise were the most active players in the exploration and colonisation of much of the interior of North America and Canada, particularly on the southern coast and the modern mid-west along the Mississippi River.
The first edition of this map was issued in 1700 and its shape was very different from other maps of the continent published to this date. Some of the geographical information was sourced from Vincenzo Maria Coronelli’s important map of North America published in 1688 but a great deal of it was sourced directly from primary sources, including the voyages of Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, the founder of the Louisiana colony and those of Louis Hennepin, a Jesuit traveller with Sieur La Salle. Among the improvements this map makes to the geography of the region is the correction of the placement of the mouth of the Mississippi from Texas to modern Louisiana and the separation of the Wabash from the Ohio River. It is also the first to name the Sargasso Sea.
More controversially, it is often cited as being the first map to reconnect California to the mainland. Closer examination of the geography leaves this claim more open to question. The western coast depicts California as a curious mixture of an “almost” peninsula which is not connected to the mainland and which also has a secondary large gulf on its western coast with a note stating that the location of this gulf is tentative and its extent or depth is unknown. Unlike many of his contemporaries, de L’Isle was never convinced of the cartographic evidence for an insular California which was ultimately cited from a single captured Spanish chart taken by the Dutch in the early 17th century. In addition, the Society of Jesus had just published a new set of “Letras” which contained the reports of Father Eusebio Kino who firmly repudiated the island status of California. Therefore, this depiction could be viewed as a compromise; not quite separate but not quite connected.
Aesthetically, the map is firmly in the French School of scientific geography. Despite its illustrative cartouche featuring several mer people, it is very understated for the time. The emphasis is on the geographical information and accuracy. Unknown regions are left blank, hence emphasizing the level of geographical knowledge available for the continent.
Upon its appearance on the market, this map became hugely influential. It went through multiple printings by de L`Isle himself and was copied, both legally and illegally throughout the map trade in Europe during much of the 18th century. Today, it is perceived as one of the cornerstone maps of any collection focusing on the United States.
The example offered for sale is a Dutch edition sold by L. Renard in Amsterdam. Although the date on the cartouche states 1700, this edition has been tentatively dated to c.1707. It is known that Renard’s contract with de L`Isle finished in 1708.
Original colour. [AMER2369] [Burden 761 State 4]