Copper engraving, total dimensions 780x1420 mm, hand-painted. In good condition, although with some restoration. Important map in four sheets, one of the most spectacular examples of the fusion between cartography and decoration. It depicts the territories between East Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Africa; it is essentially a detailed map of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, richly decorated in the Dutch cartographic tradition, illustrating the voyages of discovery of recent centuries. It derives from the extremely rare 10-sheet map by de Fer from 1713 and was included in the sixth volume of the Atlas Historique, an encyclopedic work in seven volumes published between 1705 and 1720 dedicated to the history and genealogy of the continents and geography, cosmography, topography, heraldry, and ethnography, with contributions from Nicolas Gueudeville, a French geographer. There are numerous vignettes focusing on the most important locations and describing the customs and traditions of the indigenous peoples, their activities, and their economies based on beaver, cod, and sugar. On the left is a map of the Rat Islands, where sailors set off from to cross the Pacific, and one of the Darien Peninsula, a convenient crossing point for goods. Nine medallions tell the story of exploration: Christopher Columbus from Genoa, Amerigo Vespucci, whose name would honor the newly discovered continents, the Portuguese Magellan for his circumnavigation of the world, the first, and his navigation of the strait that would bear his name and provide access to the Pacific Ocean; the Dutchman Guillaume Schouten who, together with his companion Isaac Le Maire, discovered an alternative route to Magellan's to reach the Pacific, the Strait of Le Maire. The next line of navigators includes Olivier du Nord, the first Dutchman to circumnavigate the globe. Another Dutchman, Jacques l'Hermite, led a fleet that plundered Callao and then completed the circumnavigation of the globe, although, like Magellan, he died during the voyage. Then there is the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, Francis Drake, and again Dampier, an English navigator and author of fascinating publications about his experiences circumnavigating the globe three times, the first man to do so. The last medallion depicts the only Frenchman in the group, Robert Cavallier de la Salle, who explored southeastern North America and the Great Lakes region. Their routes, together with the Manila-Acapulco route, are also marked on the map. This is followed by images of llama farming in Peru, turtle hunting, funeral and marriage practices in Canada, indigenous dances, mining activities, the Great Temple of Mexico, agriculture, and a human sacrifice by the Aztecs. Intertwined with these images are other maps: the port of Acapulco, the Mississippi Delta, the port of Callao, Mexico City, and Conception Bay. The maps of Veracruz, Rio de Janeiro, Havana, and Rio de la Plata show mining in Potosí. However, the map is also very interesting from a geographical point of view: California is depicted as an island, with a note indicating that some Europeans believe it to be connected to the continent, making this map one of the first European maps to question the myth of California as an island, depicted in many Dutch and English maps from 1630 onwards. Like De Fer, Chatelain includes the Strait of Anian separating Anian from North America, a reference to the Northwest Passage. Between Asia and America, Chatelain copied De Fer's inclusion of both Compagnie Land and the island of Jesso, both mythical geographical formations that were common ways of filling in the unknown northern Pacific. Of great importance is the representation of Australia, New Zealand, and Terre de Quir. The map, following De Fer, shows a continuous southern coastline of Australia stretching from Terre d'Edels and Terre de Leuwin, regions discovered by the Dutch in the early 17th century, to the west coast of New Zealand. This suggests a continuous landmass extending for almost eleven degrees. The northern coast of Australia, almost parallel, also extends for almost eleven degrees, ending in a blank space that De Fer had filled with a cartouche bearing the title. Instead of connecting New Guinea and Australia, as many of their contemporaries did, Chatelain and De Fer drew on the memoirs of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, who made three voyages to the western Pacific in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Quiros claimed to have found a paradise where he wanted to found a great city, Nueva Hierusalem, which would connect the Spanish Empire from Acapulco to Manila. The maps that followed Quiros' memoirs, which circulated widely in manuscript and printed form, influenced cartographers, who incorporated his accounts to varying degrees.