Original map of Europe ("L'Europe"), engraved on copper with hand-coloured outlines, from the work of Robert de Vaugondy, published in Paris. According to the cartouche, it was revised and corrected following the new divisions by Delamarche, his successor, in 1804. Signed lower right by the engraver E. Dussy.
Gilles and Didier Robert de Vaugondy, father and son, were renowned eighteenth-century cartographers, descendants of the cartographer Nicolas Sanson, from whom they inherited much of their cartographic material. In 1757 they published their most famous work, the Atlas Universel, and in 1760 Didier Robert de Vaugondy was appointed geographer to Louis XV. Their successor Charles-François Delamarche later revised and corrected the plates.
Medium: Copper engraving (intaglio) on paper, with hand-coloured outlines.
Artist / after: Robert de Vaugondy; revised and corrected following the new divisions by Delamarche, his successor.
Engraver: E. Dussy (signed in the plate, lower right: "Gravé par E. Dussy").
Date: 1804, as stated in the cartouche.
Source: Paris.
Dimensions: Sheet 12.5 x 17.7 in (31.8 x 45 cm).
Condition: Extensive age foxing in the margins and light toning of the paper; a few isolated dark stains (by the Bay of Biscay coast, over the scale at lower left and in the Atlantic west of Ireland); original central fold; wide margins.