'Découvertes de l'Amiral de Fonte et autres..' North Pacific. DE L’ISLE 1752 map
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Carte generale des découvertes de l'Amiral de Fonte et autres navigateurs Espagnols, Anglois et Russes, pour la recherche du Passage a la Mer du Sud [General map of the discoveries of the Admiral Fonte, and of other Spanish, English & Russian navigators searching for a passage to the South Seas]
This fascinating map shows the supposed "discoveries" in the North Pacific Ocean of Admiral Fonte and other explorers seeking among other objectives a north west passage and a north east passage, with a number of famous cartographic errors. The map includes an extensive interpretation of the "discoveries" made by the almost certainly fictitious Admiral Fonte along the Pacific North West Coast of North America to Alaska. A letter documenting his supposed voyage was probably invented, written and published by a London magazine editor, but the observations contained therein found strong support from credulous proponents of a north west passage route from the Atlantic to the Pacific who were keen to believe them. The map also shows a non-existent great inland sea, marked on this map as "Mer de l’Ouest" (Sea of the West), occupying a vast part of the American/Canadian west and opening into the Pacific Ocean. It commonly appeared on maps between c1740-1790. The opening into the Pacific, at around 47°N - close to the actual location of the Juan de Fuca strait - is marked on the map as the discovery of the Greek explorer Juan de Fuca in 1592. It is likely that the Sea of the West is in fact a gross misconception of the size and shape of the Strait of Georgia, the excessive size shown on the map based on de Fuca's report that he had spent 20 days sailing it and his failure to observe that the adjacent Vancouver Island was in fact an island. The map further shows the a supposed landmass east of Kamchatka discovered by Joseph-Nicolas Delisle and Aleksie Chirikov/Tchirikow during the Great Northern Expedition in 1741 - in fact the Aleutian islands - during which they also discovered Alaska. The map shows part or all of the tracks of explorers Spandberg (who found a sea route to Japan), de Frondat's 1709 crossing from China to California, and Bering's 1731 route.
Size 31 x 43 cm | 12.0 x 16.5 inches
Date Published: 1752 (This date is printed on the map)
Type: Antique 18th century atlas map, printed on thick, good quality paper with decorative title cartouche
Author: de l'Isle, Guillaume
Publication: Composite atlas
Condition: Very |
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