Map of Eastern North America (Includes Louisana & Florida, Great Lakes, Part of Canada, Insets of Quebec) [Carte de la Nouvelle France, où se voit le cours des Grandes Rivières de S. Laurens & de Mississipi]

This historic map is by Nicholas de Fer and entitled “Carte de la Nouvelle France, où se voit le cours des Grandes Rivières de S. Laurens & de Mississipi.” It was published by Chatelain in Amsterdam between 1718 and 1720.

This map was engraved and printed following Nicolas de Fer’s four-sheet map of New France first published in 1718. This one fold-out sheet map was published as part of Henri Abraham Chatelain’s Atlas Historique. The map was one of the most informative on French possessions in North America in the early 1700s. It was created to promote ‘Compagnie Francoise Occident’ (French Company of the West) in an effort to repay the debt of Louis XIV and encourage settlement in Louisiana. The over-exagerration of the demand led to financial scandal by 1720 that was referred to as the Mississippi Bubble.

The French map depicts from Labrador and Hudson Bay to the Tropic of Cancer (New Spain & Cuba). It also features an ornate cartouche and a view of the city of Quebec and a plan of its surroundings. The upper left is a large inset of the Mississippi Delta and Mobile Bay (based on De l’Isle’s manuscript map of 1701). New England and Eastern Canada are drawn from information and cartography of Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin. The map is illustrated with wildlife, Native American life, ships and sea monders.

Nicholas de Fer (1646-1720) was one of the most famous French cartographers. He was apprenticed Louis Spirinx, an engraver, from the age of 12. His father was a print and map seller, and Nicholas eventually inherited his business after his passing. He was appointed as geographer of the Grand Dauphin and eventually the Geographer of the Kings of France and Spain.