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1874 Tardieu Map of France in Provinces
FranceParProvinces-tardieu-1874$100.00
Title
France Par Provinces.
1874 (undated) 15 x 17.5 in (38.1 x 44.45 cm) 1 : 3400000
1874 (undated) 15 x 17.5 in (38.1 x 44.45 cm) 1 : 3400000
Description
This is a lovely example of the 1874 map of France by Ambroise Tardieu. The map covers the Kingdom of France showing its various divisions according to province. It covers from the Flanders in the north to Roussillon in the south and from Brittany in the west to Alsace in the east. An inset map on the lower right corner details Corsica. Throughout, the map identifies various cities, towns, rivers, lakes, roadways, railways and an assortment of additional topographical details.
France was organized into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the National Constituent Assembly reorganized the Provinces into Departments. The change was an attempt to eradicate local loyalties based on feudal ownership of land and focus all loyalty on the central government in Paris. There were roughly 40 provinces in France before they were abolished. Nonetheless, the province system was so engrained that most cartographers felt obliged to include two maps of France in their atlases, one showing the current department system, and another defining the defunct provinces.
This map was prepared by Ambroise Tardieu and issued as plate 11 in his 1874 edition of Atlas Universel de Geographie Ancienne et Moderne.
France was organized into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the National Constituent Assembly reorganized the Provinces into Departments. The change was an attempt to eradicate local loyalties based on feudal ownership of land and focus all loyalty on the central government in Paris. There were roughly 40 provinces in France before they were abolished. Nonetheless, the province system was so engrained that most cartographers felt obliged to include two maps of France in their atlases, one showing the current department system, and another defining the defunct provinces.
This map was prepared by Ambroise Tardieu and issued as plate 11 in his 1874 edition of Atlas Universel de Geographie Ancienne et Moderne.
CartographerS
Ambroise Tardieu (March 2, 1788 - January 17, 1841) was a prominent French cartographer and engraver operating in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was member of the large and prolific Tardieu family, which, for over 200 years, produced multiple skilled and active engravers. Tardieu's work is known for its beauty and accuracy as well as for its depth of detail. Tardieu's most important work is his version of John Arrowsmith's large format map of the United States, published in 1806. Ambroise Tardieu is eclipsed in fame by his son, artist and medical scholar, August Ambroise Tardieu. Ambroise Tardieu is also frequently confused with Jean Baptiste Pierre Tardieu, another unrelated French map and print engraver active in the early 19th century. More by this mapmaker...
Alexandre Aimé Vuillemin (1812 - 1880) was an engraver, publisher, and editor based in Paris, France in the middle of the 19th century. Despite a prolific publishing career, much of Vuillemin's life is shrouded in mystery. In 1852, he married Josephine Caroline Goret and they had at least one child, Ernestine Adèle Vuillemin, later in the same year. What is known is that his studied under the prominent French Auguste Henri Dufour (1798 - 1865). Vuillemin's most important work his detailed, highly decorative large format Atlas Illustre de Geographie Commerciale et Industrielle. Learn More...
Source
Furne, Jouvet et Cie Atlas Universel de Geographie Ancienne et Moderne (Paris), 1874.
Condition
Very good. Minor wear along original centerfold. Original platemark visible. Minor spotting.
References
Rumsey 4697.015 (1863 edition).