Rare Map of North America, circa 1781. Rigobert Bonne (Dutch 1721 - 1795) Carte Generale de L'Amerique Septentrionale
Measures 10.75" x 13.5" very good condition with light over all toning
Unusual edition of Bonne's map of North America, showing the Bay of the West, the mythical Bay which dominated the Northwestern part of America.
Sea of the West first appeared on the maps of Jean Baptiste Nolin circa 1700, which were drawn from manuscript maps by Guillaume De L'Isle, although De L'Isle himself never published a printed map with this configuration. The myth reached the height of its popularity in the second half of the 18th Century, following the reports of French cartographers Guillaume de l'Isle and Phillipe Buache. Under Buache and De l'Isle's influence, the Sea of the West, Mer de L'Ouest, or Baye de l'Ouest reached its fullest expression and commonly appeared on maps from the 1740s until the results of Captain James Cook's explorations along the Northwest Coast of America became well known.
10499-2
