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

Lot Number: 47306

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47306

J. A. Dezauche. Carte du Golphe du Mexique et des Isles Antilles. Paris, 1780. 37 1/4 x 20 inches (sight), matted and framed to an overall size of 45 1/2 x 28 inches. Hand-colored. A scarce and beautifully engraved map depicting the Gulf Coast, Florida, Central America and the Caribbean, from J. A. Dezauche, the successor to Philippe Buache and Guillaume Delisle. This is a first edition of the map, which was reissued later in 1792 with the Royal titles of the Buaches replaced with a note that they were members of "l'Academie."

The map was issued at a pivotal moment in Caribbean history, as European powers fought to maintain control over the West Indies. The map is cris-crossed with meticulously detailed depictions of ocean currents, soundings, locations of shoals and reefs, and rhumb lines, making it clear that the map was intended to be used as a mariner's navigation tool. Of note is the inclusion of the area that is now Texas, detailing seventeenth and eighteenth-century missions and forts.

A large cartouche at the upper right explains the differences in measurements of distance and depths, compares calculations of longitude from Parison and the Canary Islands, and provides a key that shows which landmasses were controlled by which European powers.

Condition: Not examined out of frame. Lightly toned with smoothed folds. Minor soiling and dampstaining. A few light spots of foxing.

Reference: Tooley, Map Collector's Circle, Volume 4, No. 33.

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