Alain Mannesson Mallet (1630-1706) was a French mapmaker and engineer who served in the armies of Louis XIV. After rising through the ranks, Mallet was appointed as Inspector of Fortifications, a job which also required mathematical skills and which made him a competent military engineer. Eventually, he joined the court of Louis XIV at Versailles, where he taught math and focused on writing.
Mallet is best known for his Description de L’Univers, first published in 1683, in five volumes. A wide-ranging geographical work, the Description included textual descriptions of the countries of the world, as well as maps of the celestial sky and the ancient and modern worlds. The Description continued to be published until the early eighteenth century. He also published a work in three volumes on warfare (1684) and a primer on geometry (1702).
Fascinating birdseye view. From Mallet's monumental Description de l' Univers, first published in Paris in 1683, perhaps the greatest work of its kind in the 17th Century. Complete sets of this work are now fetching in excess of $15,000.00.
Detailed map of the Armenia and Georiga region between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, extending south to Mesoptamia. Decorative cartouche.
A detailed map showing Grecian Islands. From Mallet's monumental Description de l' Univers, first published in Paris in 1683, perhaps the greatest work of its kind in the 17th Century. Complete sets of this work are now fetching in excess of $15,000.00.
Decorative map of South Africa, from Mallet's monumental Description de l' Univers, first published in Paris in 1683, perhaps the greatest work of its kind in the 17th century.
Beautifully engraved hand colored antique map of Cape York Peninsula, the Gulf of Carpenteria and New Guinea. The area is depicted before the Torres Strait was charted. The map was published as part of the 1686 German edition of Alain Manesson Mallet's...
Interesting map of the South Polar Regions, including mythical coastlines and the known coastal regions in New Zealand, Australia, South America and Africa. From Mallet's monumental work.
