Burden states “To accompany the sole North American map in his ever increasing stock Nicolas Sanson produced two more detailed ones of the area. One that would be of clear interest was to be centred on the French possessions in Canada, and its neighbouring colonies. Engraved by Jean Somer, it improves upon Sanson’s “Amerique Septentrionale”, of 1650, in many ways. The most important is the first application of “L.ERIE, ou DU CHAT” to a recognisable lake. The designation refers to the panther-like qualities of the feared local native Indians. In 1643 Boisseau had first named the lake “Derie”, applying it to an indistinguishable one. This delineation would considerably influence the cartography of the region for over 100 years; it was not to be superseded until Guillaume de L’Isle’s “Carte du Canada”, in 1703.

The entire drainage basin of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River is in greater detail than his earlier map. “Mont Real” is clearly identified as is the older “Quebec”. Following the death of Champlain the mantle of French exploration in Canada was taken up by the Jesuits who pushed the boundaries of knowledge ever westward. Fortunately for modern scholars their discoveries are largely recorded in their published annual accounts between 1632 and 1680. These immensely valuable documents provided Sanson with much of the information he required. There was a considerable decrease in their activities following the outbreak of a savage war begun by the Iroquois confederacy in 1648. Rampaging through Huron territory destroying villages, they brutally murdered many Jesuit missionaries. Even back in Quebec it was not considered safe. Following the coming of peace in 1653 the “coureurs de bois” had to travel further west than ever before in search of furs.

The northern waters are largely unaltered with the exception of Hudson Bay which is depicted in more detail. Often passing unnoticed are the improvements that Sanson made in his east coast delineation. Long Island is introduced, and New Amsterdam placed in its correct position. The Delaware River is more correctly shown, identifying the by now defeated Swedish colony. An interesting feature is the French perception of the territorial boundaries. The New Netherlands, split between “NOUVEAU PAYS BAS and N.HOLLANDE”, extend eastwards to possess Cape Cod. The borders of Virginia are present, but none of the settlements. The land to its south the French still claimed despite having no presence there for nearly 100 years. What the English lacked in land in relation to that of France, they more than made up for in far greater population. The French still only numbered some 3,000 people, whilst the rapidly growing English colonies could boast nearly 50,000.

The map was at first separately published whilst awaiting preparation of his planned atlas. This first appeared in 1658 under the title “Les Cartes Générales de toutes les parties du Monde”, and was published in many editions. The map remained unaltered throughout the life of the atlas” (Burden). References: Black (1975) vol. 2 pp. 56-7; Burden 318; Cumming (1962) no. 48; Karpinski (1931) pp. 31-2; Kaufman (1989) no. 3; Kershaw (1993) pp. 125-8; Pastoureau (1984) pp. 387-9, 400-2 Sanson VA no. 86.