Original antique map from 1762 based on the 1757 map from the Sieur 'Atlas Universelle'.
Engraved by J. Gibson.
Published by John Barrow and printed by J. Coote, London.
Robert De Vaugondy, also known as Le Sieur or Monsieur Robert, and his son, Didier, were leading cartographers in France during the 18th century.In 1757 they published The 'Atlas Universel', one of the most important atlases of the 18th century. To produce the atlas, they integrated older sources with more modern surveyed maps. They verified and corrected the latitude and longitude of many regional maps in the atlas with astronomical observations. The older material was revised with the addition of many new place names. In 1760, Didier Robert de Vaugondy was appointed geographer to Louis XV.The Robert de Vaugondys were descended from the Nicolas Sanson family through Sanson's grandson, Pierre Moulard-Sanson. From him, they inherited much of Sanson's cartographic material, which they combined with maps and plates acquired after Hubert Jaillot's death in 1712 to form the basis the Atlas Universel. Sources from the Dépôt de la Marine, the official French repository for maritime-related information, were used for their maps of Canada and South America.Like Ortelius and Mercator, the Vaugondy's credited their sources, which has greatly benefited the study of the history of cartography during that period.This map is from an English publication, 'A New Geographical Dictionary', published in London in 1762 with 'improvements' (modifications) to the original 'Sieur' maps, that were originally engraved by Rollo.
