Subject: North Pacific Ocean
Period: 1761 (published)
Publication: Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres
Color: Black & White
Size:
10.5 x 6.5 inches
26.7 x 16.5 cm
This small and uncommon map shows an interesting version of the Buache/Delisle depiction of the Pacific Northwest, with a bulbous Alaskan peninsula, a massive Sea of the West, and an indefinite Northwest Passage via its network of outlandish waterways. The inland sea has a sketched connection to a large inland lake named la Grande Eau. This map combines Buache's cartography of the region with information from the book by Joseph de Guignes about China, wherein he mentions the Chinese colony of Fousang, based upon Hui Shen's supposed voyage in the 5th century AD, whose track is shown from China. Fousang is located on this map in the vicinity of Puget Sound.
References: McGuirk #93; Kershaw #1215.
Condition: B+
Issued folding on a watermarked sheet with light toning and faint offsetting. There is a small hole in the bottom blank margin, far from the map image.