This is the first state of this lavishly embellished world map by Le Rouge. The most distinctive feature of the map is the R de l'Ouest (River of the West) shown as a definitive waterway flowing west from Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean. The actual northwest coastline is indistinct north of Cape Mendocino although the Russian discoveries in the north Pacific ocean in 1741-43 are noted. The Mississippi River system and the Great Lakes reflect Charlevoix's travels in the region and reports he compiled from fur traders. The route of the Antarctic exploration of the ships Aigle and Marie is shown in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Other inaccuracies abound in the eastern hemisphere, with Australia connected to Tasmania and New Guinea, and a large island east of Hokkaido labeled Terre de la Compagnie.

Surrounding the double hemispheres are vignettes depicting pyramids and lions from Africa at bottom left, a Native American Indian with a bow and arrows at bottom right, and tributes to scientific achievements at top, with Mercury sitting next to a large armillary sphere. The title cartouche dedicates the map to Jean-Frederic Phelypeaux, the Count of Maurepas.

References: Heckrotte & Dahl (The Map Collector) Issue 64, pp. 18-23; McGuirk #14; Wheat (TMW) #121.

Condition: A

A sharp impression on a bright sheet, issued folding on paper with a large watermark of a Maltese cross encircled in rosary beads. There is a minor printer's crease at bottom center, an extraneous crease adjacent to the left-hand fold at top, and a couple of tiny tears confined to the blank margins.