A magnificent set of four Enlightenment wall maps of the continents, all in early states: the only known set of all four, unknown in any public or private collection. In the late 17th century, mapmaking was emerging from an equal focus on the decorative and descriptive to a more analytic sensibility. Nicolas de Fer (1646-1720) successfully navigated the early Enlightenment era with these monumental wall maps, created with the patronage of the Dauphin of France. The dramatic cartouches and vignettes in the maps are masterpieces of baroque imagery, capturing the people, wonders, resources, and cultures of faraway lands eagerly sought by Europeans during this dynamic period. A very limited number of large wall maps were produced by the major cartographic houses for the nobility and for wealthy merchants to satisfy curiosity about the world beyond Europe. Grand wall maps such as these were usually mounted for display, and their exposure led to the great majority of examples from this period having been lost; the incidence of this type of map passing down to our era is astonishingly small.
(1) America: LAmerique divisee selon letendue de ses principales parties et dont les points principaux sont placez sur les observations de messieurs de lAcademie Royale des Sciences (1698). Second state of 1698 first edition, adding the dedication to the Dauphin within an ornamental cartouche. One of the most glorious cartographic expressions of the spirit of 17th century French expansionism in North America. The geography is of the type in fashion at Paris during the short interval between La Salles descent of the Mississippi in 1682 and the founding of Louisiana in 1699. De Fer properly aligned Hudson Bay above the Great Lakes, which are portrayed with exceptional accuracy, and the southern reaches to the Great Lakes are better aligned with the east coast. The map shows advanced knowledge of the Mississippi River drainage, although still emptying in the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, too far to the west, following the school of Coronelli. Two of the most iconic 18th century images of America, those of beavers at work and of a cod-fishery, were introduced on this map before being made famous by the English cartographer Herman Moll. The beaver scene shows dozens of the industrious creatures against a backdrop of Niagara Falls, which is most likely based on Hennepins first printed view of the falls, published a year earlier in 1697.
(2) Africa: LAfrique divisée selon letendue de ses principales parties et dont les points principaux sont placez sur les observations de messieurs de lAcadémie Royale des Sciences (1698). The African continent on a fantastic scale with extensive annotations and panelled legends throughout; dedicatory cartouche in the southern Indian Ocean. The side panels have extensive text entries for the division of the continent, cities, islands, capes, rivers, mountains, and a lengthy description of the source of the Nile. Richly decorated with more than 20 elaborate scenes showing art, industry, clothing, customs, farming, hunting, trade, battle, and landscapes. Numerous animals include ostrich, monkey, crocodile, lion, elephant, and camel. With a plan of the Dutch fort at the Cape of Good Hope in a draped paneled inset. The Arabian Peninsula is shown in its entirety. Based in part on the work of de lIsle, it shows an early conception of the Middle East: in particular, it omits the Sinai Peninsula included in several of de Fers earlier efforts. Among the toponyms along the coast of the Gulf are Abadan, Sur, Ahsa, Janama, Bahr, El Catif, Bischa, Borou, Godo, Vodana, Calba, Dadana, and Pinder. Although the coastlines are well mapped, there is a notable lack of understanding of the interior: the Niger delta is shown divulging on the west coast instead of the Gulf of Benin, while the massive extent of the Congo rivers drainage basin is here only hinted at. The Nile is finally freed from the twin Ptolemaic lakes and begins to take on its more accurate course.
(3) Asia: LAsie, divisée selon letendue de ses principales parties et dont les points principaux sont placez sur les observations de messieurs de lAcadémie Royale des Sciences (1696). The earliest known state, dated 1696 in the dedication. Includes the rare letterpress historical text panels dated 1703. Much of the continent is well-charted, based largely on Dutch (for the Philippines, Malaysia, Southeast Asia) and Jesuit sources (for areas such as China). The coastlines north of Korea, correctly shown as a peninsula curving west and northward, begin and end in ambiguity. Inset map of Arctic Asia; two inset maps of Northeast China based on the writings of the Jesuits Martino Martini and Ferdinand Verbiest. The richly decorated borders depict the people, art, religion, commerce, and cultures of Asia. Vignettes show Chinese, Japanese, Turks, Indians, Tartars, Philippines, inhabitants of the Molucca and Sunda islands, Ceylonese, Arabs, peoples from Goa and Mongolia, Armenians, Georgians, people from Golconda, Malaysia, Siam, Cochin and Tonkin. Among the images are those of the faithful during the Hajj visiting the Kaaba at Mecca. The rare letterpress panels provide extensive text references; rivers, towns, capes, lakes and straights, including more detailed descriptions of Turkey, Arabia, China, Persia, India, Russia, and Arabic islands in the Indian Ocean.
(4) Europe: LEurope, divisée selon letendue de ses principales parties et dont les points principaux sont placez sur les observations de messieurs de lAcadémie Royale des Sciences (1695). The earliest known state, dated 1695 within the dedication. With 16 legends in elaborate Baroque vignettes describing the French, Polish, Germans, Austrians, English, and other peoples, the vignettes interspersed with views of cities, hunting, coats of arms, pageantry, and other fascinating glimpses of a dynamic continent with culture flowering everywhere. The side panels have extensive text entries for the division of the continent, countries, principalities, nobility, cities, principal islands, capes, rivers, mountains etc. Widely acknowledged as one of the foremost French cartographers of the late 17th century, Nicolas de Fer published more than 600 maps and many atlases, documenting French fortified towns, strongholds and the explorations and discoveries of new territories. Unlike most Dutch cartographers who mainly made maps for navigational purposes, he worked in the French decorative style, creating a total of 26 large wall maps to adorn walls in the palaces and castles of European royalty, clergy, and wealthy merchants.
A superb set, previously unobtainable: no other set of the de Fer wall maps of the continents in their earliest incarnation, with or without the side panels, other than the present example, are known to have survived. Examples of individual continental maps in the earliest states, as here, rarely appear on the market. Later states of the map often appear without the surmounted title and text panels. No comparable set traced in auction records; an example of the first-state America map alone, sold by Cohen & Taliaferro in 2010, commanded $185,000.
Provenance: Long in an aristocratic collection based near Novara. Acquired in the U.S. trade.
Absolutely untouched by facsimile, only some reinstatement of paper in text panels and much less so to very minor loss in maps. Old outline colour retouched; cartouches and vignettes with recent colour. Stabilized cracks, occasional scuffing, overall age toning. Burden, P., The Mapping of North America II, no. 744; Dahl, E., The Original Beaver Map: De Fers 1698 Wall Map of America, in: The Map Collector 29 (Dec. 1984), pp. 22-26; Suarez, T., Shedding the Veil (Singapore, 1992), no. 48; not in WorldCat.