New Mexico and the Island of California 1683

by Peter Ogden

Title

New Mexico and the Island of California 1683

Artist

Peter Ogden

Medium

Drawing - Engraving

Description

This is a restored copy of "Nouveau Mexique and Californie" [New Mexico and California], published circa 1683 by the French cartographer and engineer Alain Manesson Mallet, 1630-1706. This very early colonial map depicts California as an island and Spanish colonial New Mexico. The early settlements of San Francisco, Santa Clara, Mendocino, Monterrey and San Clemente are visible on the map, some of these names being spelled differently from their current spelling.
Alain Manesson Mallet (1630–1706) was a French cartographer and engineer. He started his career as a soldier in the army of Louis XIV, became a Sergeant-Major in the artillery and an Inspector of Fortifications. He also served under the King of Portugal, before returning to France, and his appointment to the court of Louis XIV. His military engineering and mathematical background led to his position teaching mathematics at court.
His major publications were Description de L'Univers 1683, and Les Travaux de Mars ou l'Art de la Guerre 1684.
His Description de L'Universe contains a wide variety of information, including star maps, maps of the ancient and modern world, and a synopsis of the customs, religion and government of the many nations included in his text. It has been suggested that his background as a teacher led to his being concerned with entertaining his readers. This concern manifested itself in the charming harbour scenes and rural landscapes that he included beneath his description of astronomical concepts and diagrams. Mallet himself drew most of the figures that were engraved for this book.

Uploaded

May 23rd, 2020

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