Holland Map 1748 Le Rouge Provinces Unies Print - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague

This La Hollande ou les Provinces Unies is a detailed map of the Low Countries, oriented with west at the top, from Georges-Louis Le Rouge's scarce Atlas Nouveau Portatif, published in Paris in 1748. The unusual orientation gives the familiar coast a fresh look, with the sea on the left and the provinces laid out to the right. It is an engraved map in the manner of French mid-century atlases, with fine lettering and clear outlines. The portable atlas was designed for travelers and officers who needed a compact reference, and the maps were drawn to fit the small page. The sheet is typical of the neat, small-format cartography that Le Rouge sold to travelers and students of geography, and its unusual orientation makes it a conversation piece.

Le Rouge was born Georg Ludwig in Hanover and trained there as a surveyor and military engineer, then moved to Paris around 1740 and set up shop as an engraver and publisher on the Rue des Grands Augustins. He changed his name and spent his forty-year career translating works from English to French, producing thousands of charts, maps, atlases and plans. He eventually became Geographical Engineer to Louis XV. The year 1748 saw the close of the War of the Austrian Succession, in which the Dutch Republic had been closely involved, so a French map of the provinces made that year had a timely interest.

A collector of French eighteenth-century atlases, a family with roots in Holland, or a reader of the history of the Dutch Republic will find a rare gift here. TheMapVault's Wilkinson sheet of 1809 shows the same provinces from a London press, whereas this Le Rouge map of 1748 is the Paris view, turned with west at the top. Like every print in the collection, it ships unframed and is available in a full range of sizes, from a compact desk piece to a large-format statement print.