Maggs Bros.

In 1693, the Dépôt des Cartes et Plans de la Marine published the important Le Neptune François ou recueil des cartes marines levées et gravées par ordre du Roy …, edited by Charles Pene and others, an atlas of north European waters, from the Baltic to the entrance of the Mediterranean. An impressive and important atlas, it set a new benchmark for the charting of European waters. Significantly this publication by the French Admiralty preceded by nearly a century any organised publishing by the British Admiralty’s Hydrographic Office. This is a later printing of the Le Neptune François with the charts unrevised. Despite the late date, the charts are good dark impressions, perhaps an indication of a limited circulation for the atlas, which would certainly explain its relative scarcity on the market.

cf. Pastoureau, Neptune Français, A.