Auction Name: 2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 47036

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47036

Guillaume Delisle. Carte du Mexique et de la Floride, des Terres Angloises et des Isles Antilles, du Course et des Environs de la Riviere de Mississipi. Amsterdam: Covens & Mortier, 1722. 25 1/4 x 19 1/2 inches (sight), matted and framed to an overall size of 37 x 32 inches. Hand-colored in outline.

This important map, issued by Covens & Mortier, is based on Guillaume Delisle's 1703 Carte du Mexique. Drawing on information from the survivors of the La Salle Expedition and from the explorations of Bienville and d'Iberville, Delisle's map quickly became the most authoritative depiction of the American Southeast, the Gulf Coast, and the Mississippi Valley available in the early eighteenth century.

Wheat describes the map as "a towering landmark along the path of Western cartographic development," and Martin & Martin note that it was "the first printed map to portray accurately the course and mouth of the Mississippi River." It also features updated information about the Great Lakes region, English settlements along the East Coast, and Native American villages in East Texas.

Due to its accuracy and Delisle's preeminence as a cartographer, the map was reprinted many times throughout the eighteenth century. In 1722, Delisle himself made arrangements for this printing by Covens and Mortier in Amsterdam.

Condition: Not examined out of frame. Lightly toned, with a few minor spots of foxing.

Reference: Martin & Martin 14; Schwartz & Ehrenberg, p. 137; Wheat 84.

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