Antonio Zatta; 1757- 1797.
A venetian publisher, Zatta specialized in italian versions
of successful books and atlases.
Of note: the 1775 "Atlante novissimo, illustrato ed accresciuto
sulle osservazioni e scoperte fatte dai piu celebri e piu
recenti cartografi" in 4 volumes containing 218 finely detailed
maps.
It was re-edited till 1785.
Also the 1778 "Storia dell' America settentrionale.." a translation
of a Raynal's work. It included twelve maps for the USA, strongly
inspired from John Mitchell's seminal 1755 "Map of the british
and french dominions in North America". But in a rare precursory
manner he renamed the group of maps "Colonie unite dell America
Settentrionale", or "The United Colonies of north America".
Starting in 1779, these twelve maps were incorporated in the
'Atlante novissimo ..". Others maps were directly translated
from the publications of Guillaume Thomas François Raynal
- Rigobert Bonne/Giovanni Rizzi-Zannoni).
Also of note: the 1799 posthumous "Nuovo Atlante" issued by
his son.
Il Paese de' selvaggi Outauacesi, e Kilistinesi intorno
al lago Superiore. .
This large scale map (16 5/8" X 12 1/8") was designed to
be the top left corner of the twelve composite maps forming
the "Colonie Unite".
Its title, above the top neat line, translates into "The country
of the savage Ottawas and Christinaux on the shore of lake
Superior".
At the second treaty of Paris in 1783 consecrating the birth
of the United States, the John Mitchell map was used to define
the border between the territories of the independent colonies
and Canada.
The treaty text stipulates in particular that the border line
will pass ".through Lake Superior northward of the Isles Royal
and Phelipeaux to the long Lake.". Which is still today the
official definition of this frontier line.the problem being
that the island Philippeaux never existed! With the exception
of Isle Royale, the other islands were fictitious and were
the creation of Pierre Francois Charlevoix (1682-1761) a French
Jesuit priest who explored Canada and America's northeastern
regions between 1705-1720. Charlevoix created the islands
to honor his patron Jean Frederic Phelippeaux, Comte de Maurepas
whose family estate was named Ponchartrain and whose Patron
Saint was St. Anne.
The fictitious islands of Phillipeaux, St. Anne, Maurepas
and Ponchartrain appeared on many maps until later explorers
were able to discount their existence in the early 19th century.
The inset shows the southern tip of Florida: a clear demonstration
of the ignorance of the british when it came to this piece
of land.
No text on verso.
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