Jean Baptiste Louis Clouet (ca. 1730–1790). Carte d’Amerique Divisee en ses Principaux Pays Dressee sur les Memoires les Plus Recents, et sur Differents Voyages et Assujettie aux Observations Astronomiques . . . 1785 (Map of America Divided into its Principal Countries, Drawn from the Most Recent Accounts and from Various Voyages, and Subject to Astronomical Observations) (Paris: 1785). Large engraved wall-map in 4 sheets joined and backed on fine linen, within an elaborate border comprising 20 vignettes relating to the discovery of America, inset map of the north Pacific, with Russian discoveries. 37 ¾ x 48 ½ in. Backed on fine linen with minor loss of printed image, as is normally the case. A finely colored example of this striking map. $9,500.
$9,500.00
A Rare and Decorative Wall Map of America
The map was issued in 1785, a period in which France was feeling a great lift in its spirits toward commercial opportunities in the New World, having recently helped the Americans liberate themselves from England and create the United States. French interests in Louisiana were again running high and French investors were very actively pouring money into speculative real estate investments in the Ohio Valley and Mississippi Valley.
The map is a modern depiction of America as known prior to the Voyages of James Cook. The Mer de L’Ouest (Sea of the West) is a cartographic myth which was just then being dispelled by Cook and other French and English explorers in the 1770s and 1780s. Another theory of the region, which Clouet attributes to Russian explorers, is shown in the upper left corner of the map. The cartographic content of the map is largely based on the work of Nicholas De L’Isle and Philippe Buache, the major French cartographers of the 18th century.
Beginning in the 17th century, wall maps became objects of art for the educated and affluent classes of Europe, especially in France and other parts of Western Europe where the merchant classes began to look outside of Europe for trading partners. Maps such as the present map were created for the salons and private libraries, as a means of demonstrating worldliness and education about the world beyond Europe’s shores.
The 20 vignettes surrounding the map offer a pictorial history of the new World, dating back to its discovery, with text explanations in both French and Spanish.
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