1672 THEVENOT Melchissedec TG55

The first large scale map of Australia to chart Tasman’s discoveries. A pivotal Australian map (fifth state). Thevenot’s map is the first published large scale map of Australia and the first French map to record Tasman’s 1642-43 and 1644 discoveries in both Australia and New Zealand. The only other map of Australia to precede Thevenot’s map is the little known miniature map by Claes Visscher ‘t’Landt Van Eendracht’ published in 1649. This map is known so far in only one copy held by the British Library, however unlike Thevenot’s map, it shows a pre-Tasman Australia.Thevenot’s map therefore holds a significant place in not only the charting of Tasman’s voyages, but also in the mapping of the Australian continent as a whole. It records a shape of Australia that would remain unchanged until the grand exploits of Captain Cook some one hundred and ten years later.Tooley1248; Lenox Library Catalogue No.111; Printed World II map 99, illus. p.22; Maling dust cover illus. (New Zealand section only); Maling pl. 5 illus. p.30; Noted by Schilder.