Original map of Poitou, Aunis, Saintonge and Angoumois, La Marche, Limousin and Auvergne ("Poitou, Aunis, Saintonge et Angoumois, La Marche, Limosin et Auvergne"), engraved on copper with hand-coloured outlines, from the work of the geographer Robert de Vaugondy. According to the cartouche, it was corrected by Lamarche, his successor, in Year III of the French Republic (1794-1795). It includes a panel listing the ten departments of the region, the map symbols and a scale bar. 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 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.
Engraver: E. Dussy (signed in the plate, lower right).
Date: Year III of the French Republic (1794-1795), as stated in the cartouche.
Dimensions: Plate 10 x 12.3 in (25.5 x 31.2 cm); sheet 12.5 x 17.7 in (31.8 x 45 cm).
Condition: Light toning and some small age spots in the margins; numbers written in the upper margin; original central fold; wide margins.