Nicolas de Fer, Le Vieux Mexique ou Nouvelle Espagne, 1705

This beautiful map of New Spain and the Gulf of Mexico is a fine example of French cartography at the turn of the eighteenth century. Encompassing a wide area from the southern portion of what is now the United States through Central America, the map contains multiple interesting components of both human and physical geography. The names and locations of present-day Pascagoula (Pascobula), Biloxi (Biloky), Mobile (La Mobila), and Apalachicola (Apalachicoly) are shown, and the map extends to Santa Fe at its most northern point. Governmental divisions are likewise delineated, and New Mexico (Nouveau Mexique) is noted in the region above New Spain.

In addition, two French forts are shown: LaSalle’s Fort St. Louis in present-day Texas (Fortbati en 1685) and another unnamed fort near present-day New Orleans. Most notably, a highly prominent feature illustrated in northern Mexico is “Les Fameuses Mines de Ste. Barbe,” the legendary Santa Barbara mines of the Chihuahua-Durango region.

Prominent rivers are mapped, such as the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo ou del Nord), the Mississippi (Mesisipi), and the Pánuco (Rio S. Louis ou du Panuco). Detailed depictions of the coastlines include a prominent Mississippi Delta – the correct location of which was determined by the expeditions of La Salle and Iberville and incorporated into maps by the best French cartographers of the time. Mexico City and the Valley of Mexico are shown with its lake system still in existence, while in Central America Lake Nicaragua (Lac de Nicaragua) is shown as well. Interestingly, at the far west of the map the southern end of Baja California is noted as “Caroline.”

This map also has a delicate and lovely title cartouche that is embellished with two figures in indigenous attire, next to which appear the geographical coordinates of Panama, Acapulco, Mexico, and the Mississippi River.

Nicolas de Fer, son of map seller, engraver, and colorist Antoine de Fer, apprenticed to Paris copper engraver Louis Spinx. In 1687 he took over the family business and turned it into a flourishing map publishing company. Nicolas was highly successful, becoming an official geographer to both the kings of France and Spain.

Refs.: French, Josephine, ed., Tooley’s Dictionary of Mapmakers, Revised Edition E-J (1999), p. 59-60; “Nicholas de Fer,” Mapping the Past: Rare Russian Maps from Special Collections, Special Collections & Rare Books, University of Missouri Ellis Library (Online);  Phillips, Philip Lee, A List of Geographical Atlases, Volumes I-II (1971), 546; Rumsey, no. 12201.138; Tooley, R.V., The Mapping of America (1980), p. 206; Woodbury, Lowery; The Lowery Collection: A Descriptive List of Maps of the Spanish Possessions within the present limits of the United States, 1502-1820 (1912), WL 254.