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The Huntington Library Announces Renovation/ Reinstallation Plans

SAN MARINO, Calif.—The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens announced today plans to... read more

Pres. Lincoln's Manuscript Proclamation at Bonhams in June

New York—Bonhams will be offering a rare autograph manuscript proclamation signed by President Abraham... read more

Maps, Globes, Natural History Coming up at Swann's

New York—On Thursday, June 7, Swann Galleries will hold an auction of Maps &... read more

Folger Shakespeare Library Presents Open City: London, 1500-1700

(Washington, DC)  In the two centuries between 1500 and 1700, London transformed from a... read more

Incunabula Exhibit at Shapero Rare Books

On the occasion of publication of their catalogue of incunables, Shapero Rare Books have... read more

Bouguereau's Fishing for Frogs Reached $1.76 million at Heritage

DALLAS - William Adolphe Bouguereau’s 1882 masterpiece Fishing For Frogs realized $1,762,500 (Including Buyer’s... read more

Library of Congress Commences “Celebration of the Book”

The Library of Congress - the world’s largest repository of knowledge and information -... read more

Space and Aviation Autograph and Artifact Auction

Amherst, N.H. -- RR Auction is pleased to announce its popular Space and Aviation... read more

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2010 Bookseller Resource Guide
Fine Maps

French Models

This model of Embrun was built in 1701 at the beginning of the War of Spanish Succession. Some of Louis XIV’s models were re-painted a uniform military gray as part of a misguided early twentieth-century restoration effort. Credit: A. Lonchampt, Centre des Monuments Nationaux, ALC 80/545.
Model building as depicted by the famous seventeenth-century French military theoretician, Alain Manesson Mallet. Credit: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.
Side view of a typical model table showing the plank frame that was used to simulate large changes in the surface topography. A final layer of plaster covers the planks and was molded and colored to represent more subtle details in the landscape. Credit: Library and Archives Canada, C-14449.
The king and his advisors consult the model of Maestricht in the Grande Galerie of the Louvre in this 1753 print. The French captured the city from the Dutch in 1673 and again in 1748. Credit: Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Paris, B92/113.

Louis XIV kept his “princely toys” locked away in the Louvre; Louis XV continued to augment the collection and appointed a curator; and Louis XVI ordered it transferred to new quarters at the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, where it remains to this day. When the Paris Universal Exhibition opened in 1867, the model gallery became available to the public. By 1927, when it was obvious that several models had been lost or damaged, the French government took the unprecedented move of protecting the collection by declaring it an historic monument.

Today, Louis XIV’s collection is unique both in terms of its extent and its attention to detail. The collection stands as a testament to the ingenuity of early French mapmakers and their tremendous efforts to render a true likeness of French military might for their king. Gazing on these once vital tools of conquest, it is easy to be transfixed by the marvelous aerial views they offer of mighty fortifications and humble homes. Just as the realism helped Louis XIV envision the wonders of his kingdom, we too can marvel at these royal treasures and, with a little imagination, walk the same streets where kings and commoners alike once strode.

Jeffrey Murray is a former senior archivist with Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Canada, and author of Terra Nostra: The Stories Behind Canada’s Maps, 1550-1950 (Montreal, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006).