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 are fictitious.
They 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 Frédéric 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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