Antique Map of the Var with Draguignan, 1860

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The department of the Var in Provence, with Draguignan as chef-lieu and the coast running from the rade d'Hyeres past … Read more The department of the Var in Provence, with Draguignan as chef-lieu and the coast running from the rade d'Hyeres past the peninsula of Giens to Frejus and Antibes. Brignoles, Salernes, Barjols, Lorgues, Callas, Saint-Maximin and Vence are named, with the Mediterranean along the foot of the sheet. What makes this plate worth more than its neighbours is the eastern edge: Nice and the country beyond the Var river are lettered as the Sardinian states, because until 1860 they were not French at all. The sheet therefore records the Cote d'Azur before it became French, and before it became fashionable. An engraved portrait of Marshal Andre Massena, born at Nice in 1758, sits on the plate. A strong seller for anyone with a house on that coast. La France, Nouvel Atlas Illustre des Departements et des Colonies was drawn by Alexandre Vuillemin, ingenieur geographe, and published in Paris by Migeon at 9 rue de la Vieille Monnaie. Vuillemin built each sheet from the official surveys, the Cassini maps, the Depot de la Guerre, the Ponts et Chaussees and the charts of the Marine, and then framed the map with engraved vignettes: a portrait of a figure born in the department, a view of a monument or a ruin, a coat of arms. The result is part atlas and part popular encyclopaedia, and it remains one of the most decorative French departmental series of the nineteenth century. The plates in this copy show France divided into eighty six departments and the county of Nice still outside the frontier, so the engraving was completed before the annexation of Savoy and Nice in 1860, although Migeon went on issuing the atlas for many years afterwards. The sheets suit a French interior particularly well, and a group of neighbouring departments hung together makes an attractive run. The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning and a few small spots confined to the margins; the image itself is clean and bright. This is an original antique map, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. See less