About this sheet
An antique map of the department of the Saone et Loire, in the old province of Burgundy, drawn by Alexandre Vuillemin and published in Paris by Migeon around 1860. The map carries Macon, the chef-lieu, with Chalon-sur-Saone, Autun, Charolles and Louhans, the river Saone running north to south along the eastern side of the department and the Loire marking its western edge. This is one of the richest departments in France for a collector to own, taking in the vineyards of the Maconnais and the southern end of the Burgundy wine country, the Charolais pastures that gave their name to the cattle, the great abbey town of Cluny, and the ironworks and coal of Le Creusot, which by the middle of the nineteenth century had become one of the largest industrial concerns in the country. The sheet is a steel engraving with original hand colour, in the decorative departmental format described below. An antique map of the Saone et Loire makes a natural gift for a lover of Burgundy wine and hangs particularly well in a dining room or a cellar.
La France, Nouvel Atlas Illustre des Departements et des Colonies was drawn by Alexandre Vuillemin, ingenieur geographe, and published in Paris by Migeon at 9 rue de la Vieille Monnaie. Vuillemin built each sheet from the official surveys, the Cassini maps, the Depot de la Guerre, the Ponts et Chaussees and the charts of the Marine, and then framed the map with engraved vignettes: a portrait of a figure born in the department, a view of a monument or a ruin, a coat of arms. The result is part atlas and part popular encyclopaedia, and it remains one of the most decorative French departmental series of the nineteenth century.
The plates in this copy show France divided into eighty six departments and the county of Nice still outside the frontier, so the engraving was completed before the annexation of Savoy and Nice in 1860, although Migeon went on issuing the atlas for many years afterwards. The sheets suit a French interior particularly well, and a group of neighbouring departments hung together makes an attractive run.
The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, a few small spots and minor nicks along the left edge; the image itself is clean.
This is an original antique map, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
