Detailed map of western Southeast Asia, including the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo. Showing “Sinca=pura” as part of the mainland.

First published in ‘L’Asie en Plusieurs Cartes…’ (1652) engraved by A. Peyrounin. Johannes Ribbius and Simon de Vries published a German edition in 1682 and 1683, with new maps engraved by Antoine d’Winter, retaining the French captions on the maps.

Nicolas Sanson (1600-1667) began to make maps to supplement his study of history, and a map of Ancient Gaul, made early in his career brought him to the attention of Cardinal Richelieu. This foothold in the French court allowed him to rise to the position of geographe du roi, teaching both Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Louis XIII even made him a counsellor of state.

Sanson produced an atlas, ​’Cartes Generales de Toutes les Parties du Monde’, which contained important maps of the post roads and waterways of France. He also produced two major maps of North America: ​’Amerique Septentrionale’ (1650) was the first map to show the Great Lakes in a recognisable form, aided by Sanson’s access to The Jesuit Relations, a collection of accounts by French missionaries to the area. The map was drawn on a sinusoidal projection, which Sanson was the first to use. In 1656 he made ​’Le Canada ou Nouvelle France’, which showed the Great Lakes in greater detail, and included accurate representations of the Hudson Bay area, the Delaware and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.