Mortier, Pierre | First state of the first map of the Carolinas printed outside of England

Mortier, Pierre

Carte General de la Caroline. Dresse sur les Memoires le plus Nouveaux par le Sieua [sic.] S***. Amsterdam: P. Mortier, [1700]

Copper-engraved map (610 x 500 mm). Original colored outline in pink, yellow, and green; a few spots and stains, areas of primarily marginal neat repairs to margins and verso, slightly split along old vertical fold. Matted.

First state of the first map of the Carolinas printed outside of England, including an inset of Charleston with the names and positions of early plantations along the Ashley and Cooper Rivers.

The present map was included as part of Pierre Mortier's Suite de Neptune François, published in Amsterdam in 1700, and is often incorrectly attributed to Nicolas Sanson. It is directly derived from the extremely rare 1685 A New Map of Carolina by John Thornton, Robert Morden, and Philip Lea. All topographical details are identical to those of its antecedent, however most of the place names have been Gallicized. Also, "The table of settlers" has been omitted in favor of the title caption. Amusingly, a "Charle Ville ou Charles Towne" appears written in large letters near Cape Fear, while the actual Charles Towne is labeled in small letters further down the coast. 

REFERENCES

Burden, The Mapping of North America II, 767; Cumming, The Southeast in Early Maps, 120; Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici IV, M.Mor 7-33