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1782 Delisle de Sales Map of Germany, Bohemia and Poland
Germany-sales-1782$200.00
Title
Carte de l'Allemagne Moderne.
1782 (undated) 9 x 13.5 in (22.86 x 34.29 cm) 1 : 5000000
1782 (undated) 9 x 13.5 in (22.86 x 34.29 cm) 1 : 5000000
Description
A fine 1782 map of Germany and Poland by Jean- Baptiste-Claude Delisle de Sales. The map covers Germanic territories from the Baltic Sea to the Gulf of Venice and from France to Russia. Includes Germany, Austria, Bohemia (Czech Republic), Poland, Lithuania, Prussia, Switzerland, Holland (the Netherlands), Belgium and Denmark. The map offers an extraordinary level of detail throughout, noting numerous towns, cities, rivers, roads and other topography, with mountains beautifully rendered in profile. Notes the imperial circles of Germany. The 'imperial circles,' covering most of what is now Central Europe, were administrative units created for tax and defense purposes by the Holy Roman Empire in the 1500s. The Napoleonic Wars would, of course, dissolve the Holy Roman Empire and lead to the consolidation of Germany in 1871.
This map was issued as part of Delisle de Sales' Histoire des Hommes. Partie de l'Histoire Moderne. This volume is exceedingly rare as most of Sales' work was burnt under the censorship of heresy.
This map was issued as part of Delisle de Sales' Histoire des Hommes. Partie de l'Histoire Moderne. This volume is exceedingly rare as most of Sales' work was burnt under the censorship of heresy.
Cartographer
Jean-Baptiste-Claude Delisle de Sales or Jean-Baptiste Isoard de Lisle (1741–1816) was a French philosopher, historian, and accused heretic active in the late 18th century. Sales is best known for his publication of the multi-volume opus The Philosophy of Nature: Treatise on Human Moral Nature. The work, among other ideas, challenged the Biblical theory that the earth was created in 4004 BC. Instead, Sales put forth the theory based upon astronomical observations, that the earth was 140,000 years old. Sales' revolutionary ideas caused him to be declared a heretic by the Catholic Church. His publications were subsequently censored and, for the most part, destroyed. As a consequence all of his works are today extremely rare. Sales was also, notably, a close friend of Voltaire who in 1777 visited him in prison, gifting him 500 pounds towards his release. Delisle de Sales is unrelated to the more famous De L'Isle family of cartographers. More by this mapmaker...
Source
Delisle de Sales, Histoire des Hommes. Partie de l'Histoire Moderne, (Paris) 1782.
Condition
Very good. Minor wear along original fold lines. Original platemark visible. Minor spotting in bottom margin. Blank on verso.