Neptune François..., Paris, 1693 [but Amsterdam, 1700], bound with Cartes Marines..., Amsterdam, 1693 [but 1694], 2 parts in one volume

Le Neptune François, ou Atlas Nouveau des Cartes Marines... Paris: Hubert Jaillot, [but Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier,] 1693

[bound with:]

Cartes Marines A L'Usage des Armées Du Roy de la Grande Bretagne... Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier, 1693 [but not before 1694]

2 parts in one volume, large folio (617 x 502 mm) part 1: engraved additional allegorical title by Jan van Vianen, printed title in red and black with engraved vignette, 3 shipping plates, full-page engraved plate for calculating phases of the moon, latitude, etc., in Dutch, French and English, 29 hand-coloured double-page engraved charts; part 2: elaborate engraved allegorical title by Romein de Hooghe (Atlas maritime), printed title (Cartes maritimes a l’usage des armées du Roy de la Grande Bretagne) in red and black, 9 elaborately engraved and etched hand-coloured charts (mostly double-page) of the French and English coasts and including a large folding chart of the Mediterranean all by Romein de Hooghe, later quarter calf, B1 text leaf with paper repair at upper margin (without loss of text), Golfe du Gascogne map in first part with 5 inch closed tear at fold, folding map of the Mediterranean Sea in second part lacking left-hand section, one or two margins slightly cropped, some offsetting, binding rubbed at extremities

A MAGNIFICENT MARITIME ATLAS IN FINE CONTEMPORARY COLOUR, HEIGHTENED WITH GOLD. This is the first issue of the counterfeit Amsterdam edition of Neptune François, with French, Dutch and English text. It was published by Pieter Mortier, of French origin who settled in Amsterdam, where he established himself as one of the leading map-publishers of his day. The charts were exactly re-engraved after the originals by H. van Loon and C. Berey, with "levee et Gravé par Ordre du Roy, à Paris," added to the titles. 

“The Neptune François and its second part Cartes Marines [both present here]… was the most expensive sea-atlas ever published in Amsterdam in the 17th century. Its charts are larger and more lavishly decorated than those of any preceding book of this kind. For the engraving and etching Mortier had recruited the most qualified artists. Romein de Hooghe did the decorations on the charts of the second part" (Koeman).

LITERATURE:

Koeman IV, M. Mor 1, 5; Pastoureau, Neptune Français Ba, contrefaçon 1693