Significant French atlas created by Pierre M. Lapie, a renowned French cartographer and engraver. Lapie collaborated closely with his son, Alexandre Emile Lapie, resulting in both collaborative and individual publications.The work of Lapie and his son was influential on German atlas makers in the 19th century, particularly the Handatlas über Alle Theile der Erde known as Stielers Handatlas.
The complete atlas was published with 75 hand border coloured maps that were up to date and decorated with custom cartouches illustrating local inhabitants, wildlife, or significant characteristics of the depicted areas. Roughly one-third of the maps were devoted to historical cartography, a common practice in French atlases of that time. The maps are printed on exceptionally sturdy paper. It's worth noting that some editions of this atlas also include accompanying text with annotations for each map, occasionally referencing the sources employed in crafting these cartographic representations.
Of particular significance are the maps detailing regions that were, during that era, relatively uncharted. Noteworthy examples include a map of Central Africa, which prominently showcases the fabled Mountains of Kong and Mountains of the Moon. Another remarkable inclusion is the map of Australia with detailed and up to date coastline but only couple of inhabited locations or Western part of North America with legendary river of San Felipe (also recognized as Buenaventura River), belived to be connecting the Rockies with Pacific ocean. The map of South America includes the renowned Lake Parime, the existence of which was definitively disproved in the early 19th century.
