Jean-Baptiste Nolin (–1708) was a French

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

and engraver.

Life and career

Jean-Baptiste Nolin was born . He trained with the engraver

François de Poilly François Poilly, or François de Poilly, (1623Born in 1622 or 1623 according to the sources. –1693) was a French engraver. Biography He was born in Abbeville, the son of a goldsmith who gave him his first drawing lessons. He was apprenticed ...

, which caught the attention of the Italian cartographer

Vincenzo Coronelli Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (August 16, 1650 – December 9, 1718) was an Italian Franciscan friar, cosmographer, cartographer, publisher, and encyclopedist known in particular for his atlases and globes. He spent most of his life in Venice. Biogr ...

, who invited him to engrave his own maps. In 1694 Nolin was named geographer to the

Duke of Orléans Duke of Orléans (french: Duc d'Orléans) was a French royal title usually granted by the King of France to one of his close relatives (usually a younger brother or son), or otherwise inherited through the male line. First created in 1344 by King ...

( Philippe II), and in 1701 he was named engraver to the king (

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

). Nolin set up a family

publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris Rue Saint-Jacques is a street in the Latin Quarter of Paris which lies along the ''cardo'' of Roman Lutetia. Boulevard Saint-Michel, driven through this old quarter of Paris by Baron Haussmann, relegated the roughly parallel Rue Saint-Jacques to ...

, which was initially unsuccessful until it was moved nearer to other geographers on Quai de l'Horloge. Many of Nolin's maps were based on previous works by Coronelli and the amateur geographer Jean-Nicholas de Tralage, known as Sieur de Tillemon, who supplied him with most of his material. In 1700, Nolin published ''Le Globe Terreste'', a 125×140 cm world map. He was subsequently accused of plagiarism by Claude Delisle, the father of

Guillaume Delisle Guillaume Delisle, also spelled Guillaume de l'Isle, (; 28 February 1675, Paris – 25 January 1726, Paris) was a French cartographer known for his popular and accurate maps of Europe and the newly explored Americas. Childhood and education Desli ...

, another cartographer. Claude accused Nolin of copying both the shape of California (depicting it as a peninsula rather than an island) and the mouth of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

from a manuscript globe by Guillaume, which he had been working on since 1697 for Louis Boucherat, the chancellor of France. Nolin denied these accusations. Eventually, both Nolin and Guillaume were compelled to present their respective maps before a panel of experts, and to explain their sources for them. Nolin argued that the information he had used for his map was in the public domain, but the panel ruled in the Delisles' favour. Nolin was ordered to stop producing his map. The entire case took six years. Nolin's son, also named Jean-Baptiste Nolin (1686–1762), took over the business upon his father's death. Jean-Baptiste the younger produced an

atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

that was published posthumously in 1783, 21 years after his death.

Gallery

File:Jean-Baptiste Nolin - Le Globe Terreste.jpg, ''Le Globe Terreste'' File:Les Montagnes des Sevenes (Jean-Baptiste Nolin) cropped.jpg, ''Les Montagnes des Sevenes dans le Languedoc'' File:El Reyno de España dividido en dos grandes Estados de Aragón y de Castilla.jpg, ''El Reyno de España'' File:Jean-Baptiste Nolin. Carte du Capchac, partie du royaume de Gete, de la Transoxiane, de la Moscovie Géorgie. (17th century).jpg, ''Carte du Capchac Partie du Royaume de Gete''

References

Citations ;Sources * * * *

Life and career

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading