First State of Nicolas Sanson's First Map of the World

First state of Sanson's first map of the World, published by the single most important French mapmaker of the 17th Century, whose modernistic approach to cartography would redefine commercial cartography over the next 50 years and signal the beginning end of Dutch domination of the commercial map trade.

Sanson's double hemisphere map of the world is noteworthy for a number of reasons. It is Sanson's first depiction of the island of California, using a model for the shape of California which would come to be known as the 1st Sanson model. The map also provides a good look at the Great Lakes of North America, a region for which Sanson's regional maps would become the most advanced depictions of the cartography of the region for the next 30 years. The map depicts a curious NW Coast of America, separated from California by an unnamed strait, certainly a curious omission for someone as meticulous as Sanson. This NW Coast would disappear from his subsequent maps.

A very faint outline reflects Sanson's acknowledgement of the prospect of an undiscovered Southern Continent. The depiction of Australia and SE Asia are quite unique. Nice example of this scarce first edition of Sanson's map of the World.