FER, Nicolas; de. Petit et nouveau atlas.
Paris, N. de Fer, 1697
Oblong 4to, 290x230 mm. Contemporary binding in quarter cloth and cardboard. 39 engraved leaves: Titlepage, 19 maps with contemporary out-line coloring, 19 text leaves. Defects to the binding, good specimen.
Rare first edition. The maps are engraved by C. Inselin, Jean Baptiste Liebaux and H. v. Loon. The atlas consists of an illustrated Titlepage, with the armillary sphere in the centre, drawn and engraved by N. Guerard, 19 engraved double page sheets maps, all hand-colored in outline, dated 1692-97, including a general map of the World and Continents, accompanied by engraved descriptive text throughout, by Pierre Duval. Unlike the more common Atlas Curieux with a single map of the Western Hemisphere, de Fer's Petit et Nouveau Atlas contains separate maps of North America and South America. The map of North America, dated 1693, shows California as an Island with an indented northern coast and no place names, but labeled Isle de Californie. The work had considerable resonance and was republished in 1705 and 1723.
Pastoureau, Fer XIIa; McLaughlin / Mayo 111.