Original map of French Flanders, Picardy and Artois, Ile-de-France, Orléanais, Champagne, Lorraine and Alsace ("Flandre Françoise, Picardie et Artois, Isle de France, Orléanois, Champagne, Lorraine et Alsace"), engraved on copper with hand-coloured outlines, from the work of the geographer Robert de Vaugondy. According to the cartouche, it was revised and corrected by C.F. Delamarche, his successor, in 1806. At the left a table lists the 21 departments of the area, numbered on the map alongside the old provinces.
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 by C.F. Delamarche, his successor.
Date: 1806, as stated in the cartouche.
Dimensions: Plate 10.2 x 9.1 in (26 x 23 cm); sheet 12.5 x 17.7 in (31.8 x 45 cm).
Condition: Extensive age foxing in the margins, especially the lower and left ones, and spotting on the map, with heavier toning in the centre along the fold; original central fold; wide margins.