[CARTOGRAPHIE ÉTAT-MAJOR FRANCE] - Lot 368

[CARTOGRAPHIE ÉTAT-MAJOR FRANCE] Map of France at 1:80,000, known as the "carte de l'État-major" (military bookshop of J. Dumaine, the Emperor's bookseller and publisher. "By ministerial decision of May 8, 1858, M. Dumaine is solely responsible for the sale of maps, plans and works published by the Dépôt de la Guerre". 19 boxes containing a maximum of 244 by 267 sheets or maps engraved on copper and laminated on canvas, accordion-folded. Missing title and table of issues. Set not collated card by card, from card n°1 (Calais, reviewed in 1852) to card n°258 (Céret, reviewed in 1860). Contemporary red morocco spine boxes, list of maps with gilded numbers on spine. Homogeneous set with a few of the usual wear flaws, minor spotting to corners, stretching to spine of first slipcase, otherwise usual foxing, underside of box 10 missing. The history of the 1:80,000 scale map of France, more often referred to as the "carte d'état-major", began in February 1808, when Napoleon commissioned a project to replace the Cassini map. The various sections of this map were drawn up in the first half of the 19th century and made available by the Dépôt de la Guerre for commercial use. They were regularly updated. Figure la Carte d'Assemblage (grid of the mapped area) des feuilles de la carte topographique de France, dressée et gravée au Dépôt Général de la Guerre, à l'échelle de 1 m pour 80. 000 m, Lainée succ. de Longuet, géographe éditeur, membre de la Société de Géographie. Once the pieces of this gigantic puzzle had been assembled, the result was a miniature France measuring 12.50 m by 12.50 m. The maps are monochrome, with relief represented by hatching. This copy covers the entire map of mainland France, with maps 259 to 267 featuring Corsica. These maps are not included in this set.