ROBERT DE VAUGONDY, D. BUACHE, Ph. DELISLE. - Lot 290

ROBERT DE VAUGONDY, D. BUACHE, Ph. DELISLE. Supplement of 10 maps for Diderot's Encyclopédie. [Paris], 1772-1773. In-4 (26 cm), 10 copper-engraved folding maps, later paper cover (slight transfers). This series of ten important maps was published as a supplement to Diderot's Encyclopédie by Didier Robert de Vaugondy, Philippe Buache and Delisle. Among these maps is one of the northern and western parts of America, illustrating 18th-century hopes of discovering a navigable route between the Pacific and the Mississippi, with several imaginary rivers crossing the continent. It reflects French and Jesuit explorations, incorporating mythical elements such as Lahontan's western river and legendary lakes such as Conibas. Another map represents the northern and eastern parts of Asia, centered on the Northeast Passage and Asiatic Russia, with four sidebars inspired by Wytfliet (1597), presenting conjectural views of Alaska, the Northwest Passage, mythical California, and a deformed Japan. Two maps are devoted to California, one of which consists of five cartoons showing the evolution of its cartography between 1604 and 1767.