1719 Carte de l’Afrique, Dressée sur les Relations les plus Nouvelles...

By: Henri Abraham Chatelain Date: 1719 (published) Amsterdam Dimensions: 18.5 x 23 inches (47 x 58.5 cm) This is an impressive map of Africa by Henri Abraham Chatelain, published in the early 18th century as part of his monumental Atlas Historique. Known for blending cartography with encyclopedic information, Chatelain’s work stands out for its decorative richness, detail, and integration of geographic and textual knowledge.  The map depicts Africa with bold outlines colored by region and with coastlines rendered in considerable detail, reflecting the heavy reliance on maritime exploration and trade. Coastal regions such as Barbary, Guinea, Congo, and the Cape of Good Hope are labeled prominently, while the interior contains kingdoms, tribes, and speculative details drawn from travel accounts. The Nile’s sources are depicted with uncertainty, referencing the mythical lakes Zaire and Zaflan, as well as other conjectural features common in maps of the time. Madagascar and the surrounding