Double-hemisphere world with superbly decorated borders

BEAURAIN, Jean de.

Mappe-Monde dressée sur les Nouvelles découvertes dont les dernieres ont été faites en 1741.
Paris: Louis-Charles Desnos, 1766. Original outline colour. 255 x 340mm.

A beautiful small-format map of the world with a remarkable amount of allegorical detail in the borders, including figures of the Four Continents and Apollo in the Chariot of the Sun.
Published less than five years before Captain Cook's first voyage, the map shows only partial coastlines for New Zealand and Australia, although the latter has original colour suggesting it is connected to New Guinea and extends considerably tothe east, an unusual feature. In North America the infamous 'Mer de l'Ouest' appears in the north west.


Stock ID : 22349