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Description

Unusual separately issued example of the two primary maps depicting Baron de Lahontan's expedition, printed on a single sheet.

The maps were prepared to illustrated Lahontan's imaginary west-east Long River (Riviere Longue), rising in distant western mountains and emptying into the upper Mississippi and the general region of Canada which he explored.

The top map extends east to the Great Lakes to show Lac Superieur, and Lac de Illinois (Michigan), along with a number of the early French forts and fur trading outposts. Extensive annotations and diagrams throughout.

The second map shows the broader region of Canada, from Acadia and he mouth of the St. Lawrence to the upper Mississippi River and the Grand Lac des Assinipoval, centered on the Great Lakes.

Lahontan's map was one of the most influential of all mythical cartographic works, effecting the cartographic landscape of the upper Mississippi, Plains and Rocky Mountain Region=s for nearly 50 years. Issued in N oueaux Voyages de M. le Baron de Lahontan dans l'Amerique Septentrionale, one of the most influential and fanciful works of its time. The map depicts the Longue flowing from the mountains in the west (Rocky Mountains), home to the Gnacsitares Indians, and connecting to the Mississippi River. On the western side of the mountains is another river, presumably flowing into the Pacific.

While these two maps appear occasionally on the market, we have never seen an example of the two maps printed on a single sheet. The pagination information at the top right of each sheet identifies that they were intended for inclusion in two different volumes of Lahontan's journal and it is possible that the maps were originally engraved on a single plate, with the intention of cutting them in half before binding them into each volume.

A very rare survival.

Reference
Howes, W. L-25; cf Karpinski, L.C. (MI) XL; cf Schwartz & Ehrenberg p.137, pl.81; Kershaw, K.A. 298; Verner & Stuart-Stubbs #20; Lemmon, Magill & Wiese #14; Buisseret, D. (French Amer) #11.