Afrique Publee Sous Les Auspices de Monseigneur Le Duc D’Orleans

A later issue of D’Anville’s landmark map of the African continent.

This amazing two sheet wall map of the African continent is emblematic of the changes in cartography that took place around the world during the 18th century. The sea monsters that once roamed the coast are replaced with place names carefully plotted according to calculated latitude and longitude. Speculative information still persisted, as much of the world remained unknown, but it was supported by often cited sources and a greater attention to detail.

The shift towards more ‘accurate’ mapmaking was encouraged greatly by Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville, the royal cartographer to the French Sun King Louis XIV. D’Anville originally created this map in the late 1740’s, but this particular example is a later issue by Remondini, published around 1780.

It shows the continent bisected along the equator, with significant attention given to the coast lines, but largely hypothetical geography presented in the interior. Cartographic ‘myths’ presented within the the image are generally supported by accompanying text which provides further information on the available sources. Examples include the course of the Niger River, Ptolemy’s ‘Mountains of the Moon’ (a supposed source of the Nile), and an embryonic Lake Malawi. Other annotations note regional kingdoms or tribal customs, history, local resources, or geographic features.

The map includes an inset map of the Azores in the upper left sheet, as well as an elaborately engraved Rocco cartouche. It’s presided over by an allegorical figure representing Africa and images of the pyramids and exotic creatures.