Rare and decorative set of five wall maps of the world and the four continents, prepared by Clouet, in very fine, bright contemporary coloring. Each map ca. 965 x 1230 mm / 38 x 48.4 inches, with superb decorative borders, 170 mm wide at the sides and 150 mm at the bottom.

The Clouet/Mondhare double-hemisphere map of the World is one of the most decorative double-hemisphere wall maps published in the second half of the 18th Century. The map is dated 1776, the year of American Independence, and is the first edition of Clouet's large-scale double hemisphere map.
The map continues the French Aristocratic tradition popularized during the reign of Louis XIV. In this grand tradition, the Clouet/Mondhare map serves the dual purpose of being both a spectacular object utilized by the French Aristocracy of the 18th Century in decorating libraries and salons, and a statement of the worldliness of the owners, depicting the progress of the exploration of the world and scientific models of the known universe, in a perfect marriage with imagery from the classical world and scenes from the lives of key figures of the Old Testament. The map is dated 1776, the year 

The map provides a fine depiction of the most up-to-date information derived from modern explorers, although this edition pre-dates the discovery of Hawaii and the south-eastern coastline of Australia, which would be added in the next edition of the map. The earlier routes of numerous 17th- and 18th-century explorers are noted, with particular emphasis on Abel Tasman's explorations in the Southern Hemisphere, in both New Zealand and Australia. Among routes of other important explorers and voyages, Magellan (1520), Mendaña (1595), Quiros (1605), Le Maire (1615), Tasman (1642), Halley (1700), the St. Louis (1709), the St. Antoine (1710), and Bouvet (1738-9).

Mondhare has retained the mythical depiction of the Sea of the West in North America and offers several tantalizing options for a northwest passage while also including a massive nascent depiction of Alaska and the Aeulutian Archipelago, which was then at the end of a 40 year period of debate between the theories of the De L'Isle family of mapmakers, Thomas Jefferys and the Russian Academy.
The map is embellished with eight small circular astronomical diagrams, including images of lunar and solar eclipses and the known solar system. Supporting each hemisphere is an image of Atlas. Along the outer edge of the printed images are twenty vignettes from the Old Testament depicting Biblical scenes, with descriptive text in French and Spanish. Below the cusp is an armillary sphere.

Despite the findings of Cook’s first voyage, published in the early 1770s, the map adopts a particular, somewhat peculiar configuration of Australia, including a prospective eastern coastline extending as far as 180°E. Two rivers flow to that far shore, the Jordan and the St. Salvador.
These rivers are part of Terre du St. Esprit. This toponym connects the speculative coastline to the voyages of Pedro Ferdinand de Quiros at the turn of the seventeenth century. Quiros was a skilled pilot who accompanied Alvaro de Mendaña on his second voyage to the Solomons in 1595-6 (the first voyage took place in 1567-9).
After returning to Spain, Quiros convinced the authorities that he could find Terra Australis, the southern continent, if they provided him with ships and supplies. He set out in 1605 and eventually landed in Vanuatu. He mistook one of the islands for the fabled continent and called it Australia de Espiritu Santo. The largest island in the chain is still called Espiritu Santo today.
Quiros intended to set up a colony on the supposed continent. He performed a series of elaborate possession rituals and founded a city he called Nueba Hierusalem. The “city” was nestled between two rivers, which Quiros called the Jordan and the San Salvador (likely today’s Jordan and Vitthié Rivers). However, his crew forced him to leave. Quiros returned to Mexico, but his second-in-command sailed west, through the strait now bearing his name. However, due to state secrecy, the strait remained largely unknown until the 1760s.

 

The map of Asia is interesting, as it shows Korea in the d'Anville type, with labeling I.Tsiteheou ou Fongma and Quelpart. The map is interesting for its use of the East Sea, the sea between Korea and Japan, called "Mer de Corée". Like most maps of this size, it has some minor repairs and losses, but it is generally in very good condition for a wall map.

The Americas contain vignettes that tell stories of colonization in the New World, relations with the Indians of Canada, Florida, and Virginia, the discovery and exploration of the Mississippi River, and the conquest of Mexico and Latin America.
Important discoveries by Columbus, Magellan and other explorers are also celebrated in the historical vignettes surrounding the maps.

The large Sea of the West in the north-western U. S. and Canada that so enamored French cartographers is fully present here. As expected, Canadian territory is depicted with exceeding generosity, while that of the English colonies is portioned out quite meanly.

The vignettes on the map of Europe pay tribute to the great courts of Europe, from Athens to England and Scotland, along with vignettes venerating the establishment of earlier European civilizations dating back to Greece and Rome, as well as the great Renaissance cities of Italy and the foundations of France, Spain and others in medieval times.

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