A New & Exact Map of the Coast, Countries and Islands Within ye Limits of ye South Sea Company
An Accurate Delineation of the Famous French Region Ludovicianae Louisiane
Map of Louisiana and of the Course of the Mississippi
Guillaume Delisle (French, 1675–1726)
Map of Louisiana and of the Course of the Mississippi
[Amsterdam]: Chez Jean Cóvens et Corneille Mortier, géographes
1718
Hand-colored engraving
Of all the marketing materials promoting John Law’s Company of the Indies, this map, produced by the royal geographer Guillaume Delisle, was among the most successful. Mountain ranges proclaim the existence of lands “full of mines.” The text at upper left, noting that Native Americans had traded gold with the Spanish at the source of the Missouri River, similarly evokes a terrain rich in precious metals. Delisle broadens the reach of the Mississippi’s tributaries, and with them, France’s colonial holdings, here shown intruding into the ore-rich Spanish Rockies and the tobacco-producing British Carolinas. Circulated internationally, Delisle’s map intersperses such claims with the names of Indigenous tribes and European forts, and the paths of explorers from centuries past. The version from which this edition was printed was the first map to show the recently established city of New Orleans.
The New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. This item may not be in the public domain under the laws of other countries.
