File:Carte du comté de Flandre- dressée sur differens morceaux levez sur les lieux fixéz par les observations astronomiques (MAPS 121).jpg

Copper engraving, with outlines and urban areas handcolored with watercolor.

Relief shown pictorially.

Printed in the lower right corner in cartouche: " Carte Du Comté De Flandre Dressée sur differens morceaux levez sur les lieux fixéz par les Observations Astronomiques Par Guillaume De L'Isle de l'Academie Royale des Sciences. A Paris Chez l'Auteur sur le Quai de l'Horloge [erasures of text from previous printing visible but not legible] Avec Privilege pour vingt ans M.DCCIIII."

Printed in lower left corner is scale comparing common Flanders leagues and sea leagues.

Printed in lower left corner in bottom of scale: "Gravé par Liébaus. le fils."

Written in ink in upper right corner: "49."

Depicts the County Flanders in detail showing sand banks off the coast and major cities including Lille, Tournai, Gand, Bruge and Dunkerke. Shows parts of bordering regions of "Brabant," "Hainaut," "and Artois." Decorating the cartouche is an angel blowing a trumpet, a woman in classical armor, flags, cherubim, and canons firing.

Guillaume de L'Isle (1675-1726) was a cartographer and the Premier Geographer to the King in France beginning in 1718. His family played a significant part in the world of French cartography in the eighteenth century. At age 9, he drew his first map and at age 27 he became a member of the Académie Royale des Sciences. He studied under Jacques Cassini, acquiring knowledge in both mathematics and astronomy. Due to his academic background and his "critical approach to the maps of his predecessors," he became known as the first "scientific cartographer" (Moreland and Bannister, 132). Among his works are "Globe, map of the world and the four continents" (1700), "Atlas de Géographie" (1700-12), "Mississippi" (1701), "Carte du Mexique et de la Floride…" (c.a. 1703), "Carte de la Louisiane et du Mississippi" (1718) and posthumously, "Atlas Noveau" (1730 and later). Following his death, his widow took up the business with a partner, Philippe Buache (Tooley 395; Moreland and Bannister, 131-2). Source(s): David Rumsey Cartography Associates. "David Rumsey Collection. Carte du Comte de Flandre. Dressee sur differens…" Accessed 19 Mar 2009. Moreland, Carl and David Bannister. "Antique Maps: A Collector's Handbook." New York: Longman Group, Ltd., 1983. Tooley, Ronald Vere. "Tooley's Dictionary of Mapmakers." Hertfordshire: Map Collector Publications Limited, 1979.

• Subjects (LCSH): Flanders (Belgium)-Maps-Early works to 1800