Nicolas de Fer (, 1646 – 25 October 1720) was a French
cartographer and
geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...
. He also was an
engraver and
publisher
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 ...
. His works focused more on quantity than quality, there were often geographical errors,
and they were more artistic than accurate.
Early life
De Fer was the youngest of three sons of Antoine de Fer, who was also a cartographer.
When he was 12, he became the
apprentice
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
of Parisian engraver Louis Spirinx, and made his first map, of the
Canal du Midi, at the age of 23.
After the death of his father in June 1673, his mother Geneviève initially took over the map making company, which had begun to decline.
She passed it and the
atelier
An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or ...
, called Quai de L'Horloge, on to Nicolas in 1687 because of her old age.
Career
De Fer was so successful at improving the firm that, in 1690, he became the official geographer to
Louis Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ( ...
,
Dauphin of France.
With support from the Spanish and French royal families, de Fer also became official geographer for
Philip V Philip V may refer to:
* Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC)
* Philip V of France (1293–1322)
* Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598)
* Philip V of Spain
Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...
and
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 Ver ...
, the kings of Spain and France, respectively.
Because of this, his maps became
Bourbon Bourbon may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash
* Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels
* Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit
* A beer produced by Bras ...
propaganda, endorsing French 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 Ver ...
.
His business flourished, producing town plans,
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 geograp ...
es, wall maps, and more than 600 sheet maps.
He made maps of places in Europe and North America, including
New Spain,
places fortified by
Vauban,
the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, and the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
. In 1698, de Fer published a map of North America, which included a depiction of
beavers building
dams
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
near
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...
. Seventeen years later,
Herman Moll
Herman Moll (mid-17th century – 22 September 1732) was a London cartographer, engraver, and publisher.
Origin and early life
While Moll's exact place and date of birth are unknown, he was probably born in the mid-seventeenth century in G ...
published a map which plagiarized elements of de Fer's work, particularly the beaver scene. It became known as the "Beaver map".
De Fer became the official geographer for The King of Spain in 1720.
Two of his sons-in-law, Guillaume Danet and Jaques-François Bénard, continued the company after de Fer's death on 25 October of that year until around 1760.
Major works
*''Les Côtes de France'' (1690)
*''La France triomphante sous le règne de Louis le Grand'' (1693)
*''Atlas Royal'' (first ed. 1695)
*''Petit et Nouveau Atlas'' (1697)
*''Atlas curieux'' (1700)
*''Atlas ou recueil de cartes géographiques dressées sur les nouvelles observations'' (1709)
*''La Sphère Royale'' (1717)
See also
*
List of French engravers
References
External links
1685 miniature map of IndiaList of maps by De FerEran Laor Cartographic Collection, The
National Library of Israel
The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא ...
.
Map of the Church of Holy Sepulchre, 1715.Eran Laor Cartographic Collection. The
National Library of Israel
The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fer, Nicolas de
1646 births
1720 deaths
18th-century French cartographers
French engravers
French geographers
17th-century French cartographers