A late assemblage of the maps used in d’Anville’s Atlas General, gathered together towards the end of his life. The latest date encountered is 1780; the maps of France (two examples, coloured differently) and the map of Phoenicia are so dated, while the sheets bear dates from 1736 onwards.
The importance of this collection is that addition of the thirty-one smaller maps, prepared by d’Anville to accompany some of the many memoirs that he composed; many of these are of particular scarcity or rarity, on the one hand, or of particular significance in the cartographic history of the region.
For example, there are two maps of Italy, prepared for L’Analyse Geographique de l’Italie … contrasting d’Anville’s modern (accurate) outline with older (inaccurate) depictions, as also the map of Mer Caspienne, 1777.
Particularly important is his map of Cyprus, dated 1762, which gave a new and influential outline for the island although d’Anville’s error in confusing two mountains as one gave Cyprus a narrower width than reality. Another significant map, and rarity, is the map of Japan and ‘Jéço’, with the mainland coast of China, Korea and Asiatic Russia.
Other notable maps are of Jerusalem ancient and modern, Constantinople, the Dardanelles, Persian Gulf and the Pacific Ocean, the latter dated 1736. Thus, the extensive collection brings together some of d’Anville’s most important and scarcest maps as a single volume summation of his illustrious cartographic career.
A full collation is available on request.
Reference: Shirley, T.ANV-2, describing four considerably smaller atlases in the British Library.
