Original map of Normandy, Brittany, Maine, Anjou, Touraine and the Saumurois ("Normandie, Bretagne, Maine, Anjou, Touraine et Saumurois"), engraved on copper with hand-coloured outlines, from the work of Robert de Vaugondy. According to the cartouche, it was corrected by Lamarche, his successor, in Year III of the French Republic (1794-1795). It shows the new division into departments, with a panel listing the fourteen departments of the region and the map symbols.
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 Delamarche later revised and corrected the plates.
Medium: Copper engraving (intaglio) on paper, with hand-coloured outlines.
Artist / after: Robert de Vaugondy; corrected by Lamarche, his successor.
Date: Year III of the French Republic (1794-1795), as stated in the cartouche.
Dimensions: Plate 10 x 8.9 in (25.5 x 22.7 cm); sheet 12.5 x 17.7 in (31.8 x 45 cm).
Condition: Scattered age foxing in the margins and light toning of the paper; original central fold; wide margins.