A New and Exact Map of France

Early 18th century map of France on two sheets from Moll's landmark atlas, "The World Described".

Moll cites two sources for this map on the cartouche: “Mr. Picar” and “de la Hire”. These were Jean Picard, a famous French astronomer and surveyor as well as being the first person who published a treatise on how he measured the circumference of the earth. He was tasked by the French First Minister, Jean Baptiste Colbert, to produce better and more detailed surveys of parts of France. In this, he was assisted by Philippe de la Hire an important and famous astronomer and surveyor in his own right. He was particularly well regarded for his artistry. Both men were also renowned mathematicians. These surveys were conducted from the late 1670s to the mid 1680s.

As ever with Moll’s two sheet maps, it is only possible to provide an approximate date, mainly based on the addresses of the publishers. On this occasion, Thomas Bowles began the occupation of his premises near the Black Horse in Cornhill in 1730 while John King died in 1738. The strength of the engraving on the cartouche also suggests that the publishing date was more likely to be towards 1730.

Original colour.