Nicolas Sanson (aka, Sanson d'Abbeville); 1600-1667.
Nicolas Sanson, son; 1626-1648.
Guillaume Sanson, son; c1630-1703.
Adrien Sanson, son; c1630-1708.
Pierre Moulard Sanson, grand son; c1660-1730.

Born of an old Picardy house of Scottish descent, Sanson was educated by the Jesuits of Amiens.
A trained historian, Sanson branched into cartography to better illustrate his tutorial works.
Attracting the attention of Cardinal Richelieu, he was soon appointed "Géographe Ordinaire du Roi".
He was actually educating Louis XIII of France (and then Louis XIV), in the related matters.
He is most well known for his major atlas "Cartes Générales de Toutes les Parties du Monde" published in 1654, with several re-editions (the last one in 1676 was named "Cartes Générales de la Géographie Anciennes et Nouvelles").
But his call to fame comes from the preparation of a few maps which proved to be seminal, and influenced generally accepted continent delineations for many decades to come. Among others: "Amérique Septentrionale" in 1650 noted for the "Island" California", "Le Canada ou Nouvelle France" noted for its first accurate representation of the Great Lakes, and "Le Brésil dont la Côte est Possédée par les Portugais et Divisée en Quatorze Capitaineries" (both in 1656).
Upon his death, his successors ran a continued successful business, in particular thanks to their excellent partnership with Pierre Duval (his son-in-law), and Alexis Hubert Jaillot. Both men re-engraved a lot of his plates, and prepared the unfinished maps he did not have the opportunity to print.
The Sanson dynasty is often credited for planting the seeds of the golden age of French cartography in competition with the Dutch school.

L'Amerique Septentrionale par N. Sanson, d'Abbeville geograph du Roy.

This rare small map (8 15/16" X 6 5/16") is a slightly reduced version of the 1657 original (itself a derivation of the seminal 1650 map by the same name).
The present item has been printed for the 1721 issue of "Nouvelle Relation, Contenant les Voyages de Thomas Gage dans la Nouvelle Espagne,.."
Gage, an Irish Dominican, traveled extensively in north and central America between 1625 and 1637. In 1676, Gervais Clouziert, editor in Paris, compiled the traveler's notes and produced the massive 2 volumes 800 pages 32 illustrations work. Later printings were made particularly in Holland by Paul Marret between 1695 and 1724.
Due to its early source, the map was badly antiquated by the time of its printing.
Witness:
- California is still shown as an island (the insular depiction first appeared on a 1625 map by Henry Briggs, and was widely popularized by Sanson..until father Kino established its peninsular nature in 1705).
- Louisiana and New Orleans are not shown, even though the territory was claimed for France by Cavelier de le Salle in 1682, and that New Orleans had been established in 1718.
- New Amsterdam is still shown (after the English took over the Dutch colony in 1664, and they renamed the city in honor of their commander: the Duke of York, hence New York).
Inexplicably, Puerto Rico is still named Boriquem, the original indigenous name for the island which Christopher Columbus renamed San Juan Bautista in 1513.
No text on verso.