93 x 109 cm, steel engraved folding map mounted on linen, entitled Province d’Alger on label on verso, kept in a folded marbled thick paper, fitted in a marbled slipcase, title gilt on spine, J. Andriveau-Goujon, (Rue de Bac No. 21), Paris, 1852.

Synopsis

Alexandre Vuillemin was a prominent 19th century French cartographer and editor based in Paris. He produced a number of atlases, and his maps are noted for the frequent use of extensive margin illustrations – vignettes, famous people, and views of cities. His atlases were popular, and many went through multiple editions.
Produced by Vuillemin, this finely crafted steel engravings capture the land and character of the area, as only the French could. While the quality of cartography is exemplar for the time, showing us all the detail of towns, villages as well as rivers and streams, one is immediately struck by how decorative these maps are. Here we see a dramatic glimpse of part of Algeria, the exotic colony on Africa’s northern coast. These maps give us remarkable details for this ancient land which spans from the Mediterranean across the Atlas mountains, and ends at the edge of the Sahara desert.