Antiquarian Maps

PARS OCCIDENTALIS & PARS ORIENTALIS Guillaume Delisle (1675-1726) Theatrum Historicum: The extent of the Roman Empire with inserts of the Western & Eastern hemispheres. French cartographer Guillaume Delisle's maps were collected by Dutch publishers Jan Covens and Cornelis Mortier into an Atlas Nouveau, or New Atlas. Delisle attempted to establish cartography as an exact science and he subjected his source maps to critical examination, measuring them against information gathered by scientists. The rise of cartography as a precise science coincided with a decline in decoration. The dolphins, mermaids and storm-tossed ships, fierce people and exotic fauna which conveniently filled the great empty spaces, especially deep inland, were eliminated by Delisle. So highly regarded were his maps that he was eventually made "premier" geographer to Louis XV.

Delisle, Circa 1775 Click each image for larger view.