This impressive wall map, Grande mappemonde céleste, terrestre, historique & cosmographique (Great celestial, terrestrial, historical and cosmographical map of the world), contains a fabulous wealth of information on all aspects of exploration and cartography, encompassing the astronomical, geographical and administrative systems. It is one of a very few wall maps engraved in the brief period between the voyages of Captain James Cook (between 1768 and 1779) and the French Revolution (in 1789). The map is a reissue of N. Jaugeon’s magnificently complex and geographically current world map, published in Paris in 1688.

N. Jaugeon was the first director of the French Académie Royale des Sciences. At the turn of the seventeenth century, his map of 1688 was either revised from an earlier plate, or newly engraved for Hubert Alexis Jaillot of Paris. The Jaillot map was reissued by the Jaillot family of map publishers in the 1730s. A newly reworked plate appeared in 1758, and was further updated in 1786 as the Grande mappemonde.

The 1786 map celebrates Captain Cook’s remarkable achievements on three voyages of discovery. Australia’s east coast and America’s north west coast are completed, and the routes taken by Cook and Captain Tobias Furneaux (1735–1781) are shown in considerable detail.

The Grande mappemonde was published by Louis Charles Desnos (1725–1805), with the latest scientific discoveries added by Louis Brion de la Tour (1756–1823), the geographer to the King of France. Desnos was one of the most eminent cartographers of his day, and was the globe maker to the King of Denmark. Based in Paris, he was also a publisher and bookseller, and produced many atlases and globes.

Desnos and Brion de la Tour collaborated on republishing the maps of the Jaillot and Sanson families. The Grande mappemonde is a very fine example of the popular large decorative wall maps that were produced for the French commercial map trade. Throughout most of the eighteenth century, France was the most important centre of map publishing, and Paris in particular dominated in the production of fine wall maps.

Louis Charles Desnos (1725-1791) was one of the most prolific French mapmakers during the 18^th century Age of Enlightenment. Based in Paris, he was appointed official cartographer to the King of Denmark, Christian VII, and sent him a copy of most of his publications. During his life, Desnos was so prolific and published so broadly that he gained a reputation for shoddy and undiscerning workmanship. Ironically, he is now regarded as one of the most important Parisian mapmakers of the period, probably due to his vast output.