L‘Asie, divisée en ses Principaux Etats

n.d but 1771

Original hand-coloured copper engraving on paper

Print size: 12.25 x 17.5 in (31 x 44.5 cm)
Sheet size: 13.75 x 19.75 in (34.7 x 50 cm)

This is a Jean Janvier map of Asia from 1771. The map spans Africa and the Mediterranean to the Bering Strait (Detroit du Nord or d'Anian) and from Nova Zembla and the Arctic Ocean to Java and New Guinea. One of the most intriguing aspects of this map is its depiction of Asia's relatively unknown northern northwest. Yeco, or Hokkaido, is only speculatively mapped, with its western boundaries uncertain. Sakhalin Island is represented in its infancy.

Janvier charts the fabled Terre de Gama or Terre de la Company just east of Yeco (Hokkaido). These islands, sometimes known as de Gamma Land or Gama, were allegedly found in the 17th century by a mysterious man known as Jean de Gama. Several following explorers claim to have seen this continent, but it was Bering who eventually debunked the story. He sailed for three days hunting for Juan de Gama Land in 1729, but never discovered it. It is considered that it was just a mis-mapping of Hokkaido or the Japanese Kuriles, although Gama or Compagnie lingered on maps for approximately 50 years after Bering's travels until Cook's investigations validated Bering's findings.

Though the peninsula of Siberia and northeast Asia are very well charted because of Vitus Bering and Tschirikow's investigations, a further oddity occurs in the shape of an anomalous landmass approximately east of Kamchatka, roughly where the Aleutian Islands are today. According to a notation, these continent claims to have been observed in 1741, implying that either Vitus Bering or Alexei Chirikov saw it. This is most likely an early version of the Muller Peninsula. Gerhard Muller proposed the Muller Peninsula based on reported views of the Aleutian Archipelago and their misperception of it as a single geographical mass.

Further south, New Guinea (Nouvelle Guinée) is speculatively mapped, with much of its eastern and southern borders left blank or covered below the grand title cartouche.

In the lower right quadrant, a gorgeous title cartouche depicting the continent's wealth emerges. Jean Janvier created this map in 1771 for publication in Jean Lattre's Atlas Moderne in 1776.

Jean or Robert Janvier (fl. 1746 - 1776) was a Paris-based cartographer who worked throughout the mid and late 18th centuries. Janvier's real first name is a source of contention, as it frequently occurs as either Jean or Robert. Janvier's maps were often signed Signor Janvier. Janvier appears to have been awarded the title of "Geographe Avec Privilege du Roi" by the late 18th century, and this distinction appears on several of his later maps. Janvier collaborated with several of the leading French, English, and Italian map publishers of the day, including Faden, Lattre, Bonne, Santini, Zannoni, Delamarche, and Desnos.

Jean Lattré (170x - 178x) was a Paris-based bookseller, engraver, globe maker, calligrapher, and map printer who worked from the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Lattré collaborated with a few other notable French mapping luminaries, including Janvier, Zannoni, Bonne, and Delamarche, to print a huge corpus of maps, globes, and atlases. He is also known to have collaborated with other European cartographers, including London's William Faden and the Italian cartographer Santini. Piracy of maps and breaches of copyright were prevalent in 18th century France. According to court documents in Paris, Lattré accused numerous other period map publishers of imitating his work, including fellow Frenchman Desnos and Italian map engraver Zannoni. As a late 18th century trade card advertises the world of 'Lattré et son Epouse,' Lattré taught his wife, Madame Lattré (néVérard), as an engraver. The offices and bookshop of Lattré were located at 20 rue St. Jaques in Paris, France. Later in his life, he moved to Bordeaux.

Source: Jean Lattre, Atlas Moderne ou Collection de Cartes sur Toutes les Parties du Globe Terrestre, c. 1775

This work will be shipped unframed

NON-EXPORTABLE