Carte Generale De L'Afrique Continent Les Principaux Etats qui y sont contenuë

A highly unusual, rare and scarce map of Africa and the main states by Charles Inselin (1673 - 1715) – only two recorded prior sales.

[General Map of Africa Continent The Main States contained therein.]

Inselin’s map of Africa is a distinctive for its decoration: a nude figure standing next to an elephant with its trunk holding up the cartouche; there is a decorative chain of coats of arms of 29 major European cities! There are also numerous annotations of short, descriptive text, mostly on the discovery of islands about Africa. 

Inselin is better known as an engraver who specialized in geography, engraving for cartographers, notably Delisle and Jaillot. Chez Crepy (probably Etienne-Louis) published this map separately in 1735, twenty years after Inselin’s death.

The map is uncoloured, printed on firm, watermarked paper; manuscript 6 is written in black ink on the verso at the top right. The impression of the upper part of the chain of coats of arms is light, but otherwise the map is in near-fine.

References: Norwich’s Maps of Africa # 82. Not in Tooley's Collectors' Guide to map of Africa.

Publisher: A Paris, chez Crepy

Dimensions: 64 x 52 cm

Date: 1735

Estimate: $2000 - $3500

Reserve: $1250