Original map of the Bavarian and Austrian Circles ("Cercles de Baviere et d'Autriche"), 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 covers the area from Swabia and Franconia to Hungary, and from Bohemia and Moravia down to the Tyrol, the Republic of Venice and the Gulf of Venice, with a scale bar in the right margin. 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 9.7 x 11.7 in (24.6 x 29.8 cm); sheet 12.5 x 17.7 in (31.8 x 45 cm).
Condition: Scattered age foxing in the margins, heavier in the lower one, and light toning; number "26" written in the upper margin; original central fold; wide margins.