About the item: An authentic, folio-format late 18th-century geographical map "Royaume de Pologne" (Kingdom of Poland) – a significant monument of European cartography and history, published as a copperplate engraving in Paris in 1787 by the prominent French scholars Rigobert Bonne and Nicolas Desmarest. The work was included in their famous encyclopedic publication "Atlas Encyclopédique, contenant la géographie ancienne...". The map features exceptional contemporary geographical detail, later hand-coloring in watercolor, and completely untrimmed, wide original margins. The exhibit is offered in excellent, collectible condition.
Technical information:
The overall dimensions of the map including margins are 42 cm x 31 cm.
The piece was printed in Paris (France), is attributed to the 1400–1900 era, and is precisely dated to 1787, indicating the 1781–1800 period.
The authors and publishers of the map are Desmarest & Bonne.
The technique is copperplate engraving on thick paper, hand-colored.
The condition of the object is evaluated as excellent – the paper is firm, clean, retaining its original stability and time-untrimmed margins.
Artistic and structural analysis: This map reflects the French Enlightenment tradition of cartography, where aesthetics are combined with strict mathematical and astronomical precision. An elegant, minimalist classical-style cartouche is integrated into the upper left corner, containing the title of the work, the publishers' names, and a reference to the Royal Academy of Sciences. The map page number 72 is engraved in the upper right corner. Hand-coloring in soft yellow, pink, and green tones visually highlights and separates the state's voivodeships and the territories of neighboring empires. Fine engraving lines precisely capture the networks of rivers (Vistula, Neman, Dnieper), forest areas, relief, and a dense distribution of place names for cities and towns.
Historical and geographical context: This edition captures a particularly dramatic and geopolitically sensitive period in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania). The map was published in 1787 – already after the First Partition of the Commonwealth (1772) but before the Second and Third partitions, so it clearly shows the contemporary state borders, enclosing the most important cultural and political centers: Vilnius (Wilna), Warsaw (Varsovie), Kraków (Cracovie), as well as Grodno, Minsk, and the Podlachia lands. Royal hydrographer Rigobert Bonne (1727–1794) and the pioneer of physical geography Nicolas Desmarest (1725–1815) created with this work one of the most accurate geographical sources of Eastern Europe for the French scientific elite.
Collectible and investment value: The value of this map in the antique market is guaranteed by its significant historical weight and excellent physical preservation – specimens that retain full margins and lack deep paper damage or tears are highly valued by collectors. Since it captures in detail the territory of Lithuania and Poland before the final erasure of the state from the map of Europe, this work has a constant demand in regional history collections. The stable structure of the paper and the expressive color image ensure long-term investment potential, making this masterpiece an elite accent in an office, private library, or classical interior space.
