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Description

Fine map of North America, published by Mallet in his multi-volume Description de l'Univers, first published in Paris in 1683.

California is shown as an Island. The Northwest Coast of America is unknown. The Great Lakes are incomplete and only starting to form. The Gulf Coast extends too far west. South America is still too wide.

An unknown Southern Continent is shown, along with a very incomplete Australian Coastline.

Reference
McLaughlin 86.
Alain Manesson Mallet Biography

Alain Mannesson Mallet (1630-1706) was a French mapmaker and engineer who served in the armies of Louis XIV. After rising through the ranks, Mallet was appointed as Inspector of Fortifications, a job which also required mathematical skills and which made him a competent military engineer. Eventually, he joined the court of Louis XIV at Versailles, where he taught math and focused on writing.

Mallet is best known for his Description de L’Univers, first published in 1683, in five volumes. A wide-ranging geographical work, the Description included textual descriptions of the countries of the world, as well as maps of the celestial sky and the ancient and modern worlds. The Description continued to be published until the early eighteenth century. He also published a work in three volumes on warfare (1684) and a primer on geometry (1702).