Carte Des Nouvelles Decouvertes dressee par Phil. Bauche Extrait d'une Carte Japonoise

Striking and highly detailed, this attractive 1772 Robert de Vaugondy copper engraved map is a fascinating combination of two contrasting maps on a single sheet. Both maps cover the northeastern parts of Asia and the northwestern parts of North America. Phillip Buache originally drew this two-map chart to expound upon his theories regarding the northwest coast of America and, more specifically, the possibility of a Northwest Passage. The upper map, 'Carte des Nouvelles Decouvertes,' is a combination of data absconded from the Russian 'Academy of Sciences' and Buache's speculations on the Northwest Passage. When Joseph-Nicholas de L'Isle, younger brother of the better-known Guilleme de L'Isle, returned from his tenure at Russian Tzar Peter the Great's 'Academy of Sciences' he decided to publish a compilation of secret cartographic data obtained from previously unknown Russian expeditions to Kamtschaka and the coast of Siberia. These seminal explorations included the discoveries of Tchir