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a map of europe and a passport on a tablea map of europe with a black book on itan old map of the empire of france with a map of the countryan old map of a country with a lot of lines on itan old map of the country of france showing the roads and townsa map of the united states with a bible on ita green book sitting on top of a white tablean old book sitting on top of a white table next to a white table
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253 - POIRSON (Jean-Baptiste). Road map of the French Empire and t…
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Estimate €600 - €800
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Description
POIRSON (Jean-Baptiste). Road map of the French Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. A very rare map of the French Empire in 1812, printed on vellum. Presumably the only copy produced for Jules Joly, of the Joly de Bammeville family, major owners of spinning mills in Saint-Quentin (Aisne). Paris, H. Langlois, 1812. (550 x 800 mm); map folded and mounted in a contemporary green morocco binding; on the front cover, title and name of the map’s owner in gilt letters: Travel Map. Mr Jules Joly. Minor signs of wear to the binding. Map of the departments of the French Empire in 1812, at the height of Napoleon’s conquests. It was drawn up by the French geographer Jean-Baptiste Poirson, printed on vellum, and published in Paris by the bookseller and publisher Hyacinthe Langlois. In 1812, the territory of the French Empire was at its peak, comprising 133 departments. Not shown here are the four departments conquered in Catalonia and created in January 1812. After Waterloo, the Treaty of Paris restored France to its 1790 borders, forcing it to cede French-speaking territories (Savoy, Belgium) and Italian-speaking territories (the County of Nice). The name of the map’s owner is Jules Joly. This refers to Samuel Jules Joly de Bammeville. The Joly de Bammevilles, a prominent Protestant family of industrialists and several-time mayors of Saint-Quentin, founded a linen mill in 1705 that remained in operation for nearly two centuries. In 1805, Jules Joly joined the family business. Faced with the Continental Blockade (1806), which restricted cotton imports from America, he travelled to Italy in 1811 to establish business contacts and purchase cotton from Castellamare. It was most likely during this trip to Italy in 1811 that Jules Joly had this itinerary map of France and Italy printed on vellum, of which we have found no trace in public collections. Apart from the portolans of the 16th and 17th centuries, maps printed on vellum are extremely rare. Furthermore, we have found only a single copy of Poirson’s map printed on paper in public collections (the University of Leeds Library). Gustave Davois cites a copy in his Bibliographie napoléonienne published in 1911. There is another map by Pierre-Grégoire Chanlaire bearing the same title, but this one is different. A French geographer, Jean-Baptiste Poirson drew the map of the Macartney Embassy and most of the maps of Humboldt’s journey. In 1803, at the request of Napoleon Bonaparte, he designed, in collaboration with Mentelle, a globe for the Tuileries. (cf. Séverin, Monique, The Joly de Bammeville Family. History of the Families of the High and Lower Nobility. In Mémoires - Fédération des sociétés d'histoire et d'archéologie de l'Aisne, Volume XXIX, 1984, pp. 105–136; Séverin, Monique, La famille Joly de Bammeville: les manufactures, cinq générations. In Mémoires – Federation of Historical and Archaeological Societies of the Aisne, Volume XXX, 1984, pp. 73–98). Very rare map of the French Empire in 1812 printed on vellum.
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About the sale Fine antique and collectible books, manuscripts and modern illustrated works
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Auction time 06/29/2026 at 2:00 PM
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