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- The Original Beaver Map - De Fer's 1698 Wall Map of America
The Original Beaver Map - De Fer's 1698 Wall Map of America
- By The Map Collector
- Published 1 December 1984
- Maps
- Unrated
The Map Collector
The Map Collector, initiated by Peter Scott and Valerie G. Newby, was a journal on historical cartography published every quarter. The first issue appeared in 1997 and continued for nearly 20 years. After 74 issues the last copy appeared in Spring 1996. Mrs. Valerie G. Newby, is presently editor of the IMCoS Journal.
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by Edward H. Dahl
The author of this article is the curator of early cartography at the Public Archives of Canada.
TO INDIVIDUALS INTERESTED in early maps of North America, the words 'beaver map' bring to mind the mapmaker Herman Moll and a metre-high map entitled A New and Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britain on ye Continent of North America. This popular map was first printed in 1715 and was reissued with minor revisions during almost a half century by Moll and, after his death, by his successors. A considerable portion of what might otherwise have been a virtually blank area in the Atlantic Ocean off the United States coast is filled by A View of ye Industry of ye Beavers of Canada in making Dams .. a charming drawing of a colony of beavers hard at work with Niagara Falls in the background. The observer is almost invariably first drawn to this before the rest of the map. Since the attractiveness of this scene has helped Moll win renown as a map designer, and since the view has become so popular in Canadian iconography, it is worth examining its source and composition.
But first, a few words about the major characters in the scene. The heaver, now the national emblem of Canada, has been a prominent factor in her history, for the pursuit of heaver pelts to satisfy the European need for hats made from felt using this particular fur stimulated much of Canada's early economic development and helped establish the routes which later formed much of the country's transportation network. In writings about the beaver over the centuries, a mythology developed about this animal that led to the publication of some quite unusual claims. In his America, for example, Ogilby quotes Pliny, who in discussing the European beaver, 'relates, that these Beasts bite off their Pizzles [penes] and throw them to the Hunter, which are an exceeding good Medicine to help Abortion, stop the Monethly Flowers. Giddiness in the Head . . . Belly and Tooth-ach . . ., and the Evil'; Ogilby, to his credit, declares this a 'great mistake' and points out that these appendages are attached to their backbones in such a way 'that they cannot loose them but with hazard of their lives. In fact Samuel Hearne, noted explorer of the Canadian barrens in the 1760s and 1770s, mentions that he could not refrain from smiling when reading of the beavers' attributes in the accounts of different authors 'as there seems to be a contest between them, who shall most exceed in fiction.' He singled out one instance, noting that in order to make it the most complete natural history of the beaver possible, little remained to be added beside 'a vocabulary of his language, his code of laws, and an account of his religion.
This study of Moll's beaver scene was actually prompted .by the recent acquisition of several maps by the National Map Collection, Public Archives of Canada, because one of the newly acquired maps — Nicolas de Fer's almost unknown 1698 wall map of North and South America — has a similar beaver scene but predates Moll's version by almost two decades. In fact, the study of the beaver scene was initiated even before this particular map arrived. In 1981, the National Map Collection acquired Paolo Petrini's Italian version of this map, TAmerica,' which, though undated, was assumed to predate Moll's. Then, a year later, a c.1740 version of the 1698 de Fer map was acquired, issued from newly engraved plates by J. F Benard, de Fer's son-in-law. Finally, as a reward for the dogged pursuit of the various versions of this map, the original 1698 became available several months later.
De Fer's 1698 map lacks a title, although later versions have a title, engraved on a separate strip of paper pasted across the top — TAmerique divisee scion retendue de ses principales parties . . In the cartouche in the lower left is found the following dedication and imprint: `Dediee a Monseigneur le Dauphin par son tres humble et tres oheissant Serviteur et Geographe, de Fer,' followed by (and this is inserted on each of the four sheets which make up the map) A Paris, Chez l'Autheur dans l'Isle du Palais sur le Quay de l'Horloge a la Sphere Royale. Avec Privilege du Roy 1698."Gravee par H. van Loon' appears to the left of the cartouche and, at the bottom of one of the lower insets, 'N. Guerard in et fecit.' From this it can be deduced that de Fer published (and compiled?) the map, van Loon engraved the more strictly defined map portion, and Nicolas Guerard successively designed, engraved and etched the vignettes surrounding the map, along with the decorative elements in the ocean areas. The map, printed on four sheets which have been joined, has an engraved image measuring at its greatest 91 by 118 cm.
In an attempt to trace the sources of the components of Guerard's beaver scene, a search was made of the pre-1698 iconography available to him. It is, of course, possible that an artist or traveller provided Guerard with an unpublished drawing which he merely engraved hut, since no such drawing has come to light, this possibility is no more than conjecture. All that could profitably be examined were the printed images relating to North American heavers and to Niagara Falls, since it can be safely assumed that Guerard would have been familiar with all such material.
`Le Saut de Niagara' in the background seems to present no problem. In the year before de Fer published his map, Jean-Louis Hennepin had recorded his travels in North America in a volume entitled Nouvelle decouverte d'un tres grand pays situe dans lAmerique (Utrecht, 1697), which included the first and now best-known early image of Niagara Falls. The form of the falls was incorporated by Guerard with only the smallest alterations.
The sources for the heaver activity in the foreground were not so readily pinned down. Beavers had appeared on maps showing North America produced by such mapmakers as Champlain (1612 — probably the first appearance of a heaver on a map of North America), Blaeu (1635), Bressani (1657), Thornton (1677), Franquelin (1678), Visscher (c.1680), and Coronelli (1688). But all of these were at too small a scale to display physical characteristics in enough detail to serve Guerard.
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COPYRIGHT December 1984 The Map Collector, All rights reserved.
No portion of this article nor the accompanying illustrations can or may be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
The author of this article is the curator of early cartography at the Public Archives of Canada.
TO INDIVIDUALS INTERESTED in early maps of North America, the words 'beaver map' bring to mind the mapmaker Herman Moll and a metre-high map entitled A New and Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britain on ye Continent of North America. This popular map was first printed in 1715 and was reissued with minor revisions during almost a half century by Moll and, after his death, by his successors. A considerable portion of what might otherwise have been a virtually blank area in the Atlantic Ocean off the United States coast is filled by A View of ye Industry of ye Beavers of Canada in making Dams .. a charming drawing of a colony of beavers hard at work with Niagara Falls in the background. The observer is almost invariably first drawn to this before the rest of the map. Since the attractiveness of this scene has helped Moll win renown as a map designer, and since the view has become so popular in Canadian iconography, it is worth examining its source and composition.
But first, a few words about the major characters in the scene. The heaver, now the national emblem of Canada, has been a prominent factor in her history, for the pursuit of heaver pelts to satisfy the European need for hats made from felt using this particular fur stimulated much of Canada's early economic development and helped establish the routes which later formed much of the country's transportation network. In writings about the beaver over the centuries, a mythology developed about this animal that led to the publication of some quite unusual claims. In his America, for example, Ogilby quotes Pliny, who in discussing the European beaver, 'relates, that these Beasts bite off their Pizzles [penes] and throw them to the Hunter, which are an exceeding good Medicine to help Abortion, stop the Monethly Flowers. Giddiness in the Head . . . Belly and Tooth-ach . . ., and the Evil'; Ogilby, to his credit, declares this a 'great mistake' and points out that these appendages are attached to their backbones in such a way 'that they cannot loose them but with hazard of their lives. In fact Samuel Hearne, noted explorer of the Canadian barrens in the 1760s and 1770s, mentions that he could not refrain from smiling when reading of the beavers' attributes in the accounts of different authors 'as there seems to be a contest between them, who shall most exceed in fiction.' He singled out one instance, noting that in order to make it the most complete natural history of the beaver possible, little remained to be added beside 'a vocabulary of his language, his code of laws, and an account of his religion.
This study of Moll's beaver scene was actually prompted .by the recent acquisition of several maps by the National Map Collection, Public Archives of Canada, because one of the newly acquired maps — Nicolas de Fer's almost unknown 1698 wall map of North and South America — has a similar beaver scene but predates Moll's version by almost two decades. In fact, the study of the beaver scene was initiated even before this particular map arrived. In 1981, the National Map Collection acquired Paolo Petrini's Italian version of this map, TAmerica,' which, though undated, was assumed to predate Moll's. Then, a year later, a c.1740 version of the 1698 de Fer map was acquired, issued from newly engraved plates by J. F Benard, de Fer's son-in-law. Finally, as a reward for the dogged pursuit of the various versions of this map, the original 1698 became available several months later.
De Fer's 1698 map lacks a title, although later versions have a title, engraved on a separate strip of paper pasted across the top — TAmerique divisee scion retendue de ses principales parties . . In the cartouche in the lower left is found the following dedication and imprint: `Dediee a Monseigneur le Dauphin par son tres humble et tres oheissant Serviteur et Geographe, de Fer,' followed by (and this is inserted on each of the four sheets which make up the map) A Paris, Chez l'Autheur dans l'Isle du Palais sur le Quay de l'Horloge a la Sphere Royale. Avec Privilege du Roy 1698."Gravee par H. van Loon' appears to the left of the cartouche and, at the bottom of one of the lower insets, 'N. Guerard in et fecit.' From this it can be deduced that de Fer published (and compiled?) the map, van Loon engraved the more strictly defined map portion, and Nicolas Guerard successively designed, engraved and etched the vignettes surrounding the map, along with the decorative elements in the ocean areas. The map, printed on four sheets which have been joined, has an engraved image measuring at its greatest 91 by 118 cm.
In an attempt to trace the sources of the components of Guerard's beaver scene, a search was made of the pre-1698 iconography available to him. It is, of course, possible that an artist or traveller provided Guerard with an unpublished drawing which he merely engraved hut, since no such drawing has come to light, this possibility is no more than conjecture. All that could profitably be examined were the printed images relating to North American heavers and to Niagara Falls, since it can be safely assumed that Guerard would have been familiar with all such material.
`Le Saut de Niagara' in the background seems to present no problem. In the year before de Fer published his map, Jean-Louis Hennepin had recorded his travels in North America in a volume entitled Nouvelle decouverte d'un tres grand pays situe dans lAmerique (Utrecht, 1697), which included the first and now best-known early image of Niagara Falls. The form of the falls was incorporated by Guerard with only the smallest alterations.
The sources for the heaver activity in the foreground were not so readily pinned down. Beavers had appeared on maps showing North America produced by such mapmakers as Champlain (1612 — probably the first appearance of a heaver on a map of North America), Blaeu (1635), Bressani (1657), Thornton (1677), Franquelin (1678), Visscher (c.1680), and Coronelli (1688). But all of these were at too small a scale to display physical characteristics in enough detail to serve Guerard.
Read Full Article >>
[Acrobat Reader required]
COPYRIGHT December 1984 The Map Collector, All rights reserved.
No portion of this article nor the accompanying illustrations can or may be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
