Nouvelle Carte D’Angleterre, D’Ecosse, et D’Irelande, Avec des Instructions Pour COnnitre les Different Etats de la Couronne d’Angleterre en Europe, Asie, Afrique, et Amerique

The newly constituted United Kingdom of Great Britain (and Ireland).

“A New Map of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with Instructions for Describing the Several States of the English Crown in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America” – Approximate title translation.

This beautiful antique map of the British Isles highlights the extent of the British Empire in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The newly formed (1707) Kingdom of Great Britain encompasses England and Scotland, while the Kingdom of Ireland remains firmly in union under the crown. Small insets in the upper corners and accompanying tables describe the extent of territorial claims across the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. The latter map (upper left) shows California as an Island and unusual incomplete coastlines in the Pacific. Surprisingly pro-British, for a French publication.

The copperplate-engraved sheet was originally published in Paris as part of Henri Abraham Chatelain’s important Atlas Historique. This monumental seven-volume set was first issued in Amsterdam between 1705 and 1720, but was reprinted until the late 1730s. The scholarly, but approachable, work was aimed at a broad audience, eager for new information during the Age of Enlightenment. The breadth of content offers a nuanced synthesis of geography, cosmography, history, religion, ethnology, and political science. The descriptive text (in French) and skillfully engraved maps, diagrams, and illustrations provide a fascinating window into the world of the early 18th century.