SANSON D'ABBEVILLE, Nicolas (1600-1667)
Le Canada, ou Nouvelle France. Paris: Pierre Mariette, 1656.Hand-colored engraved map of Canada and eastern North America, image 402 x 538 mm (435 x 586 mm) matted and framed. Decorative cartouche. (Light browning to sheet edge, a few light spots, vertical fold.) The most influential map of Canada of the 17th-century, Sanson's map shows the entire Great Lakes region and the St. Lawrence River basin in great detail; it names Lake Erie as a recognizable and distinct lake for the first time. Sanson drew on information from Jesuit explorers who pushed westward following Champlain's death, and who published annual accounts of their findings between 1632 and 1680. The map also shows a detailed view of the east coast, introducing Long Island, and placing New Amsterdam in the correct location. Burden I 318; Kershaw 133.
