A good example of the first edition of the original French ‘Neptune François’, one of the landmarks – a highly significant publication. It was immediately counterfeited by Pieter Mortier in Amsterdam and issued jointly with Hubert Jaillot in the same year. At the time the chart trade in Amsterdam was falling into decline. “The minister of finance to Louis XIV took the initiative to give the French navy an important advantage over the British. In 1691, a royal privilege was granted to produce a sea chart atlas, ‘Le Neptune François’, engraved and printed on Mercator’s projection by royal-appointed engineers and surveyors’ (Wardington Catalogue).

Its use of Mercator’s projection which had not won favour with French sailors, explained its poor sales. Despite this the sources used for many of the non-French charts were original local surveys. Its coverage extended from Norway south to Gibraltar. As such it had value, something not lost on the Dutch and Mortier in particular. His editions proved popular. One of its most innovative features was the laying down of safe channels on the charts along with all the usual hazards and soundings to be expected. Another tradition began with this atlas in that it used soundings based on the lowest tide. It remained the standard work on French waters at least, until about 1800.

The work was originally projected as two large volumes, the first covering the Atlantic shores of Europe as here, and the second, which did not appear for some years, to cover the Mediterranean. Provenance: Duc de la Rochefoucauld, ink stamp of Chateau de la Roche-Guyon on engraved title, sale, Sotheby’s Monaco, 8 December 1987, lot 597. Chapuis (2019); Pastoureau, Neptune Français A 1693.